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FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 


REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON.  D.  D, 


BEQUEATHED   BY   HIM  TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

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((<m<3Mm3W3mmmm 


SB 


Holsinger's  History  of  the 

TUNKERS 


The  Brethren  Church 


EMBRACING 


The  Church  of  the  Brethren, 

The  Tunkers,  The  Seventh-Day  German  Baptist  Church, 

The  German  Baptist  Church,  The  Old  German 

Baptists,  and  The  Brethren  Church 


including 

THEIR  ORIGIN,  DOCTRINE.  BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE 


By  H.  R.  HOLSINGER 

Editor  of  the  Christian  Family  Companion,  first  weekly  paper  published 
in  the  interests  of  the  Tunkers 


Lathrop,  California 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  AUTHOR 

By  Pacific  Press  Publishing  Co.,  Oakland,  Cal. 

1901 


First  read  the  preface.  Then  carefully  peruse  the 
glossary,  and  you  will  be  prepared  with  understanding  to 
finish  the  book. 


COPYRIGHT,  igor,  BY  H.  R.  HOLSINGER. 

ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED. 


PREFACE 

Forty-five  years  ago  I  became  a  member  of  the  Church  of  the  Brethren, 
as  it  was  then  known.  Among  those  who  did  not  belong  to  the  same 
denomination,  the  members  were  called  "Dunkards,"  especially  among 
those  who  were  not  friendly  to  their  cause.  Besides  these  names  I  knew 
no  other.  I  was  then  in  full  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  the  church 
as  far  as  I  knew,  with  a  few  exceptions.  I  was  told  that  the  gospel  of 
Christ  was  our  only  creed  and  discipline.  My  father  was  a  minister  in 
the  church,  and  his  father  was  a  minister.  Hence,  I  had  every  opportunity 
of  knowing  the  customs  and  practices  as  well  as  the  sentiments  of  the 
church,  and  can  safely  say  that,  taking  all  together,  I  was  in  harmony  with 
the  average  membership.  With  the  gospel  peculiarities  of  the  church  I 
was  in  full  sympathy.  Among  those  may  be  enumerated  Faith,  Repent- 
ance, Triune  Immersion,  Laying  On  of  Hands,  Feet-washing,  Lord's 
Supper,  Communion,  anointing,  Salutation,  Anti-war,  Anti-slavery,  Non- 
swearing,  Non-conformity  from  all  sinful  fashions  and  customs.  I  set 
out  to  serve  the  Lord  in  good  faith. 

In  a  few  things,  however,  I  did  not  agree  with  the  average  member- 
ship of  that  day.  For  instance,  I  never  could  see  that  education  was  a 
dangerous  thing,  and  had  a  great  thirsting  for  more  of  it.  I  always  pre- 
ferred to  hear  a  man  preach  who  knew  more  than  myself,  which  did  not 
require  anything  uncommon.  I  was  never  much  afraid  of  Sunday-schools, 
although  I  never  had  attended  a  Sunday-school  regularly.  I  believed  in 
plainness  of  attire,  but  never  accepted  the  uniformity  theory.  I  worked 
along  without  jarring  with  the  congregations  in  which  I  lived  or  the 
officers  under  whom  I  served  for  more  than  fifteen  years. 

After  I  entered  the  publishing  business  and  began  to  advocate  advanced 
views,  I  came  into  contact  with  the  dignitaries  of  the  church,  and  met 
with  much  opposition.  I  labored  to  have  removed  from  the  brotherhood 
that  which  I  believed  to  be  error  or  superfluity.  And  I  am  happy  to 
believe  that  my  labors  were  not  altogether  without  success.  But  in  course 
of  time  certain  leaders  of  the  church  determined  that  they  would  tolerate 
improvements  no  longer.  Accordingly  they  began  to  bring  complaints 
against  me  and  my  colleagues  for  introducing  and  advocating  innovations, 
and  enacted  decisions  of  annual  meeting  intended  to  circumscribe  the 
progressive  element  of  the  fraternity. 

However,  progressive  sentiment  had  grown  so  rapidly  that  for  several 
years  it  seemed  that  conference  itself  was  being  controlled  by  that  ele- 
ment. When  this  was  noticed  by  the  conservative  portion,  they  beean 
to  threaten  withdrawing  from  the  body,  unless  their  favorite  traditions 
were  maintained.  Progressive  sentiment  had  advanced  too  far  to  permit 
conference  to  make. all  the  retractions  that  the  conservatives  demanded, 

(3) 


6  PREFACE. 

He  also  acknowledged  that  his  articles  on  the  two  Christopher  Saurs 
are  based  on  data  furnished  by  the  library  of  A.  H.  Cassel,  of  Harleys- 
ville,  Pennsylvania.  It  was  also  obvious  that  all  important  articles  in  the 
Pioneer  were  contributed  by  this  same  modern  historian,  Seidensticker. 
The  case  then  appeared  thus :  If  all  information  in  regard  to  our  history 
comes  from  Brother  Cassel,  one  may  as  well  go  to  the  fountain-head  at 
once.  Accordingly,  in  the  winter  of  1897-98  I  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Har- 
leysville,  accompanied  by  Bro.  J.  C.  Cassel,  of  Philadelphia,  as  amanuensis 
and  copyist.  A  week  was  spent  with  the  great  Tunker  antiquarian.  We 
had  full  access  to  the  library  and  the  constant,  kindly  assistance  of  the 
librarian  during  the  five  days  we  spent  in  his  family.  Many  valuable  items 
of  history  were  gathered,  and  our  brother  also  loaned  me  a  number  of 
manuscript    folios,    which    have    been    copied    and    returned. 

John  Calvin  Harbaugh,  of  Waynesboro,  Pennsylvania,  favored  me  with 
a  copy  of  the  Chronicon  Ephratense.  translated  into  English  by  J.  Max 
Hark.  Having  previously  read  the  German  twice,  the  translation  enabled 
me  to  readily  gather  such  facts  as  it  contained.  It  is  difficult  to  say  just 
how  much  confidence  should  be  given  to  the  statements  in  this  work. 
That  the  authors  were  in  position  to  know  the  truth  whereof  they  wrote, 
may  not  be  denied.  That  they  were  in  danger  of  being  prejudiced  is 
equally  true. 

One  brother  admonished  me  to  be  careful  to  free  myself  of  all  prejudice 
or  preference,  as  to  the  parties  in  the  church ;  that  their  party— meaning  the 
conservatives — were  very  sensitive  as  to  their  method  of  church  oolicy. 
The  item  was  scarcely  necessary,  as  experience  has  taught  me  that  fact. 
Nevertheless,  a  sincere  desire  is  cherished  to  appear  grateful  to  friends 
for  their  good  intentions,  and  an  earnest  hope  is  held  that  profit  has  been 
gained. 

Having  entered  upon  the  work,  it  was  discovered  that  much  of  the  manu- 
script had  been  duplicated,  and  that  the  labor  and  expense  devoted  to 
copying  and  preserving  were  all  lost;  that  we  had  in  print  almost  the 
entire  history  of  the  church  during  the  first  fifteen  years  of  her  existence, 
and  that  the  work  to  be  performed  would  consist  of  committing,  assim- 
ilating, and  rewriting,  with  such  embellishment  as  would  not  darken  the 
statement  of  facts.  This  had  not  proceeded  beyond  the  prehistoric 
department  when  "A  History  of  the  Brethren,"  by  M.  G.  Brumbaugh,  of 
the  Pennsylvania  University,  appeared.  The  people  described  by  Brum- 
baugh being  the  same  as  those  whose  history  is  here  related,  I  was  hopeful 
that  it  might  assist  me  in  my  duties.  Prompt  application  was  made  to 
Brother  Brumbaugh  for  permission  to  quote  from  his  book.  A  generous 
response  was  received  that  he  would  be  willing  to  grant  any  reasonable 
privilege,  but  inasmuch  as  most  of  the  data  was  very  rare,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  point  out  such  portions  of  his  work  as  were  desired.  When 
reading  the  history,  the  discovery  was  made  that  the  book  was  dedicated 


PREFACE.  7 

to  Abraham  H.  Cassel,  whose  collection  of  manuscripts  made  the  volume 
possible.  As  that  was  the  case,  I  had  no  occasion  to  quote  or  copy  there- 
from. You  who  have  occasion  to  compare  the  books  will  kindly  bear  in 
remembrance  the  foregoing  statements,  and  hold  in  mind  that  while  this 
book  is  being  published  several  years  later,  the  first  part  of  it  was  written 
or  outlined  at  least  two  years  earlier. 

It  does  not  often  happen  that  an  author  has  as  many  difficulties  to  sur- 
mount as  in  the  writing  of  this  book.  At  least  ninety  per  cent  was  dic- 
tated to  an  amanuensis,  because  the  author  could  not  write  legibly,  on 
account  of  nervous  afflictions,  and  even  became  almost  speechless,  making 
the  labor  of  dictating  at  all  times  difficult  and  frequently  impossible.  It 
was  discovered  that  speaking  more  distinctly  could  be  done  when  in  a 
prostrate  position,  hence  part  of  the  dictation  was  given  while  lying  abed. 
Other  difficulties  of  less  importance,  but  equally  hard  to  surmount,  were 
met,  but  through  them  all  kind  Providence  has  mercifully  sustained  me. 
Though  the  labor  has  been  difficult  to  one  of  my  infirmities,  yet  I  thank  God 
for  a  few  more  days  in  His  service.  The  toil  has  also  been  lightened  by  the 
hope  that  the  present  and  future  churches  might  find  an  interest  in  the 
facts  as  here  related,  and  which  may  also  serve  as  data  for  future  his- 
torians. The  recalling  of  revered  names  will  at  least  be  an  inspiration  to 
many  in  whose  memory  they  still  live.  The  patriarchs  are  passing.  A 
record  of  their  lives,  though  very  brief,  is  well  worth  treasuring.  I  much 
regret  my  inability  to  do  justice  to  all. 

The  illustrations  in  this  work  are  a  new  feature  of  Tunker  literature, 
and  required  much  labor  and  many  rebuff's  to  collect  the  subjects.  I  am 
happy  to  be  able  to  present  a  fair  group  of  pictures,  some  of  which  will 
be  familiar  to  many;  others  will  be  unknown,  but  I  trust  none  the  less 
appreciated. 

The  inability  to  secure  other  desired  photographs  is  regretted. 

It  had  been  intended  to  include  in  this  work  an  autobiography  of  the 
author,  but  when  it  was  observed  how  frequently  my  name  appeared  in 
every  department  of  the  work  and  how  intricately  my  own  history  is 
interwoven  with  that  of  my  people,  all  inspiration  to  write  on  the  subject 
was  lost.  However,  the  following  items  are  submitted,  for  which  room 
has  been  found  in  this  department. 

I  was  born  in  Morrison's  Cove,  Pennsylvania,  May  26,  1833.  My 
father  and  grandfather  were  Tunker  preachers.  My  grandmother  on  my 
father's  side  was  Elizabeth  Mack,  daughter  of  William  Mack,  son  of 
Alexander  Mack,  Jr.  Hence,  I  am  a  grandson  of  a  great-grandaughter 
of  one  of  the  founders  of  the  church.  I  was  married  June  1,  1864,  to 
Susannah  Shoop.  We  had  two  daughters,  Mrs.  P.  G.  Nowag,  of  Johns- 
town, Pennsylvania,  and  Mrs.  S.  J.  Holsinger,  of  Phcenix,  Arizona.  On 
the  15th  of  July,   1901,   all  were  yet  living. 

I  was  baptized  into  the  Tunker  Church  early  in  the  spring  of  1855,  at 


8  PREFACE. 

Clover  Creek,  Pennsylvania,  by  Elder  George  Brumbaugh.  I  was  elected 
to  the  ministry  Oct.  28,  1866;  advanced  to  the  second  degree  a  few  months 
afterwards,  and  ordained  to  the  eldership  Oct.  21,  1880. 

I  began  writing  the  "History  of  the  Junkers"  early  in  the  fall  of  1898, 
and  completed  it  in  July,   1901. 

The  remainder  of  my  history,  is  it  not  written  in  the  Chronicles  of 
the   Church? 

To  the  many  friends  who  have  kindly  given  assistance  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  volume  I  wish  to  gratefully  acknowledge  obligations. 

H.    R.    HOLSINGER. 

January  J,  A.  D.  1901. 


OUTLINE    OF    CONTENTS 

Introductory — Title  Page  and  Reverse — Preface — Outline  of 
Contents — Glossary — Key  to  Ilustrations — List  of  Authors 
Quoted    1-24 

CHAPTER    I. 

PREHISTORIC. 

Importance  of  German  History — The  Waldenses — The  Baptists 
— The  Pietists — Futile  Efforts  at  Organization— Kingdom 
of  God — Apostolic  Succession   25_34 

CHAPTER   II. 

ORGANIZATION    IN   GERMANY. 

First  Baptism — The  Pious  Eight — Early  Indications  of  Progres- 
sion     35-39 

CHAPTER   III. 

SCHWARZENAU,   GERMANY. 

The  Quaint  Village — The  River  Eider — The  Bridge — Official 
Record — House    Inscriptions   40-44 

CHAPTER   IV. 

mack's  book  translated. 

Preface — Introduction — Outline  History  of  the  Church — Forty 
Pungent  Questions  and  the  Answers  AS'll7 

CHAPTER   V. 

FROM    THE    CHRONICON    EPHRATENSE. 

Another  Story  of  the  Origin  of  the  Tunkers — Conrad  Beisel's 
View  of  Piety  1 18-120 

(9) 


IO  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   VI: 

EARLY   INTERNAL  TROUBLES. 

Persecutions — Krefeld — Note — Driven  to  America 1 21-122 

CHAPTER   VII. 

FIRST    WORK    IN    AMERICA. 

First  Emigrants  from  Germany — A  Furious  Storm  at  Sea — First 
Mission  in  America — A  Disappointment  that  Resulted  in 
Good — Organization  in  America — Beggarstown — German- 
town — Important  Ephrata  Movement — Snow  Hill  Nunnery 
— Early    Churches    123-159 

CHAPTER    VIII. 
German  Baptist  Congregations   160-206 

CHAPTER   IX. 

DOCTRINAL. 

D.  P.  Sayler's  Definition — Mandatory  Laws — Election  and  Or- 
dination of  Officers — Form  of  Worship — Controversy  on 
Feet-washing- — Sayler's  Report  to  the  Ecumenical  Council 
— Cassel's  Reply — Elder  George  Hoke's  Theology — Form  of 
Worship — Tunker  Love-feast — Tunker  Meeting-houses — 
God,  the  Progenitor  of  the  Human  Race 207-262 

CHAPTER   X. 

LITERATURE. 

First  Hymn-book — Educational — Early  and  Later  Efforts 

263-272 


CONTENTS.  I  I 

CHAPTER  XL 

DENOMINATIONAL. 

German  Baptists; —  Historical — Missionary — Financial — Statisti- 
cal— Educational    273-294 

CHAPTER    XII. 

GERMAN      BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Biographical    295-414 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

OLD  GERMAN  BAPTISTS. 

Historical,  Congregational,  and  Biographical 415-469 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL. 

Progressive  Work — Holsinger's  Troubles — Berlin  Committee — 
Arnold  Grove — Schoolhouse  No.  7 — Dayton  Convention — 
Ashland  Convention — Organization    470-551 

CHAPTER  XV. 

BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL. 

Organization  of  Churches — Literature — Ashland  College — Pub- 
lishing House   552-64: 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

BRETHREN     CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Biographical 642-758 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

KINDRED  FRATERNITIES. 

Congregational  Brethren — Far  Western  Brethren — Leedy  Breth- 
ren —  Oimanites  —  Moravians  —  River  Brethren  —  John  A. 
Bowman  Brethren — The  Honites    759_773 


12  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

EPISTOLARY   HISTORY. 

Letters  from  Alexander  Mack,  John  Hildebrand,  Michael  Pfautz, 
Christopher  Saur,  Michael  Frantz,  John  Price,  Isaac  Price, 
Grabil  Meyers,  B.  F.  Moomaw   774~796 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

MISCELLANY. 

First  American  Bible — A  Tunker  War  Episode — First  German 
Printing  Press — A  Mother  in  Israel  Indeed — Sunday-school 
Tickets — Laying  on  of  Hands — Reputation  of  Early  Tunkers 
— Encouragements — The  Little  Tunkeress — A  Remarkable 
Family    797-820 


GLOSSARY 

Instead  of  numerous  foot-notes,  scattered  throughout  the  work,  inter- 
rupting the  reader  and  breaking  the  pages,  we  have  selected  this  depart- 
ment. The  reader  who  expects  to  finish  the  work  will  be  greatly  assisted 
by  thoroughly  acquainting  himself  with  its  contents,  especially  with  the 
explanations  of  certain  words  and  terms  of  frequent  occurrence  and  of 
peculiar  signification.  Having  arranged  these  into  a  special  department, 
we  shall  aim  to  treat  the  various  subjects  with  due  consideration,  and 
more  fully  than  is  done  in  the  foot-note  system. 

Annual  meeting,  big  meeting,  yearly  meeting,  are  all  synonymous,  and 
imply  the  general  conference  of  the  church.  For  many  years  it  was  known 
only  by  the  name  "Big  Meeting." 

"Gross  Versammlung." — It  was  almost  universally  so  called  in  my 
youthful  days,  and  many  years  after  it  became  an  established  annual  affair. 
See  "History  of  Annual  Meeting." 

"At  present"  in  this  work  implies  at  the  close  of  the  year  1900.  The 
term  "now."  and  all  similar  expressions  indicating  time,  imply  the  same 
period. 

Avoidance. — This  is  a  term  much  used  in  early  Tunker  literature.  As 
used  by  them  it  would  be  synonymous  with  the  word  "ban,"  and  implying 
somewhat  more  than  the  word  excommunication,  as  used  in  the  discussion 
of  ecclesiastical  subjects  generally;  inasmuch  as  the  ordinance  of  avoid- 
ance, as  practiced  by  the  early  churches,  followed  the  excommunicated 
person  with  severe  execration  after  having  been  debarred  from  fellowship 
with   the   church. 

Ban. — This  word  occurs  in  most  of  the  modern  languages  of  Europe, 
and  its  primary  signification  appears  to  have  been,  "to  make  a  signal" 
(see  banner),  "to  proclaim"  or  "publish."  This  meaning  it  retains  in  the 
phrase  bans  or  banns  (q.  v.)  of  marriage.  In  Germany,  the  acht,  or  ban- 
nuni,  was  a  sentence  of  outlawry  pronounced  in  the  middle  ages  against 
those  who  escaped  from  justice,  or  refused  to  submit  to  trial.  We  often 
read  of  refractory  princes,  and  even  cities,  being  placed  under  the  ban  of 
the  empire.  The  following  are  the  terms  of  banning  used  in  an  old 
formula  :  "We  declare  thy  wife  a  widow,  and  thy  children  orphans  ;  we 
restore  all  thy  feudal  tenures  to  the  lord  of  the  manor ;  thy  private  prop- 
erty we  give  to  thy  children  ;  and  we  devote  thy  body  and  flesh  to  the 
beasts  of  the  forest  and  fowls  of  the  air.  In  all  ways  and  in  every  place 
where  others  find  peace  and  safety,  thou  shalt  find  none;  and  we  banish 
thee  into  the  four  roads  of  the  world,  in  the  devil's  name."  Besides  these 
sentences  of  outlawry,  many  other  announcements  were  accompanied  with 
denunciations   and   imprecations.     When    a   grant    of   land    was    made    for 

(13) 


14  GLOSSARY. 

religious  purpose,  or  when  a  charter  of  liberties  was  granted,  the  trans- 
action was  proclaimed  in  public  with  certain  ceremonies,  and  curses  were 
denounced  against  any  one  who  should  violate  the  deed.  Thus,  banning, 
or  publishing,  came  to  be  associated  with  cursing ;  and  hence  the  origin  of 
the  popular  use  of  the  word.  It  occurs  in  this  sense  in  Shakespeare  and 
Milton,  and  other  old  writers. 

Lining  Hymns. — This  exercise  was  very  common  in  the  middle  ages 
of  the  history  of  the  Tunkers.  Although  it  originated  through  an  enforced 
condition  of  the  people,  in  later  years  it  was  practiced  as  a  sacred  rule. 
Hymn-books  being  scarce,  the  minister  would  read  the  first  two  lines  of  a 
stanza,  which  the  congregation  would  sing.  Then  the  second  two  lines 
were  read  and  sung;  and  so  on  until  the  entire  hymn  had  been  finished. 

Mode,  Single  and  Double. — These  expressions  are  peculiar  to  the 
Tunkers.  They  have  reference  to  different  methods  of  performing  the  act 
of  feet-washing.  Those  using  the  single  mode  each  wash  and  wipe  the 
feet  of  one  person  only,  and  have  the  same  rule  performed  to  them.  By 
the  double  mode  two  persons  are  engaged  in  the  same  service,  one  wash- 
ing and  the  other  wiping  the  feet  of  the  same  person,  and  perform  the 
service  to  from  six  to  twelve  persons.  Then  they  are  relieved  by  two 
other  persons,  who  follow  the  same  procedure.  Reference  will  be  made  to 
this  subject  quite  frequently  in  this  book. 

Old  Style — New  Style. — The  old  style  implies  the  old  mode  of  reckon- 
ing time,  according  to  the  Julian  year  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five 
and  one-fourth  days.  The  new  style  is  the  present,  or  Gregorian  method, 
by  which  the  year  has  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  five  hours  and 
forty-nine  minutes.  There  is  now  a  difference  of  twelve  days  between  old 
style  and  new  style.  Thus,  while  the  old  was  January  i,  the  new  is  Janu- 
ary 13.  The  change  was  effected  for  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  including 
the  colonies  of  America,  in  the  year  1751.  It  was  enacted  that  eleven  days 
should  be  omitted  after  September  2,  1752,  so  that  the  ensuing  day  should 
be  September  14. 

The  change  was  made  on  the  birthday  of  King  George  II,  reigning 
sovereign  at  that  time.  By  this  arrangement,  September,  1752,  had  but 
nineteen  days  instead  of  thirty.  The  author  of  this  work  had  the  pleasure 
of  handling  a  copy  of  Christopher  Saur's  almanac  for  that  year,  and  it 
was   interesting  to  notice  the  short  calendar  of  the  September  page. 

Order. — Tlys  word  and  its  corresponding  term,  "order  of  the  church," 
frequently  occur  in  T linker  writings.  Its  meaning  is  almost  unlimited, 
inasmuch  as  it  includes  both  written  and  unwritten  usages  and  order  of 
the  church.  It  is,  however,  more  generally  confined  simply  to  the  regula- 
tion in  regard  to  the  wearing  of  clothing  and  dressing  of  the  hair,  although 
it  is  not  always  and  at  all  places  the  same,  yet  it  may  be  said  to  embrace 
the  following  particulars  : — 


GLOSSARY.  15 

The  hair  of  the  men  shall  be  worn  parted  in  the  middle  or  combed 
straight  back  over  the  head  without  parting,  or  cut  short  in  front  and 
worn  over  the  forehead  either  with  or  without  parting.  These  forms  were 
adopted  at  an  annual  meeting,  of  which  the  standing  committee  had  mem- 
bers of  its  body  who  wore  their  hair  in  the  several  methods  described 
above,  and  may,  therefore,  be  said  they  were  an  example  to  the  flock. 
Mustaches  were  forbidden. 

Male  Attire. — The  coat  and  hat  of  the  brethren  are  the  only  items  of 
male  attire  that  are  prescribed.  The  coat  shall  have  a  stand-up  collar 
too  narrow  to  be  turned  down,  and  the  corners  of  the  skirts  must  be  cut 
round,  according  to  the  style  known  in  tailor  nomenclature  as  "shad- 
belly." 

The  hat  must  have  a  wide  brim,  and  must  not  be  too  high  in  the  crown. 

Female  Attire. — So  far  as  the  decisions  of  conference  are  concerned, 
the  regulations  of  female  attire  are  quite  numerous.  However,  the  women 
seem  to  have  or  to  assume  some  privilege  in  regard  to  their  own  dress,  at 
least  so  far  as  drapery  is  concerned,  but  the  head-gear,  like  the  laws  of 
the  Medes  and  Persians,  changes  not. 

It  consists  of  a  white  cap  of  material  that  can  be  seen  if  not  felt.  No 
regard  is  paid  to  the  shape  of  the  article.  This  cap  is  called  the  prayer 
covering,  in  reference  to  Paul's  instruction  to  women  to  have  their  heads 
covered  when  they  pray  or  prophesy.  Some  of  the  Tunker  women  are 
very  conscientious  on  the  subject,  and  would  not  venture  to  go  to  any 
place  of  worship  without  wearing  it,  nor  sit  down  to  the  table  to  eat,  nor 
appear  in  the  presence  of  a  company  of  Christian  men  or  ministers,  without 
their  sign  of  authority  upon  their  heads. 

Over  the  cap  may  be  worn  any  kind  of  weather  covering  which  is  not 
after,  or  too  nearly  after,  the  fashion  of  the  world — hats  excepted,  no 
matter  whether  plain   or  stylish. 

From  the  head  downward  the  women  are  given  almost  exclusive  con- 
trol of  their  clothing,  except  in  case  of  new  fashions,  such  as  crinoline,  etc. 

It  may  be  said  the  Tunker  cap  covers  a  multitude  of  sins.  In  many 
congregations  it  is  positively  the  only  outward  sign  of  membership,  in  the 
German  Baptist  or  the  Old  German  Baptist  Churches.  Otherwise  the 
sisters  are  dressed  in  as  good  style  as  their  circumstances  will  permit  or 
their  taste  dictate.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  a  communion  table  sur- 
rounded by  young  sisters  dressed  in  the  best  style  and  of  finest  material, 
each  wearing  a  cap  or  something  which  was  called  a  cap,  and  all  passing 
as  being  in  the  order,  although  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  two  were  dressed 
alike. 

Pie  Meeting. — The  Tunkers  of  the  nineteenth  century,  -  and  possibly 
earlier,  were  inclined  to  make  an  ordinance  of  hospitality,  to  which  their 
environments,  no  doubt,  largely  contributed.     Manv  of  the  rural  churches 


l6  GLOSSARY. 

— and  Tunker  Churches  were  almost  universally  rural — worshiped  almost 
exclusively  in  their  own  dwellings  and  barns.  The  country  was  but 
sparsely  settled,  and  many  of  the  members  went  great  distances  to  attend 
services.  They  could  not  well  return  to  their  homes  without  some  refresh- 
ment for  themselves,  and  provender  for  their  horses.  These  were  cheer- 
fully supplied  by  the  family  which  had  entertained  the  meeting.  As  the 
country  grew  up,  the  churches  enlarged,  and  the  congregations  increased 
in  numbers.  By  and  by  it  was  found  necessary  for  several  neighbors  to 
unite  in  order  to  accommodate  the  people.  It  is  altogether  likely  that 
this  hospitable  feature  of  their  meetings  had  a  tendency  to  increase  the 
attendance  at  their  services.  Even  in  the  days  of  Christ,  some  followed 
Him  for  the  sake  of  "loaves  and  fishes.'' 

At  each  meeting  the  invitation  was  extended  to  everybody  to  remain 
for  dinner,  and  there  was  an  abundance  prepared  for  all.  If  it  happened 
that  the  next  service  announced  would  be  held  in  a  schoolhouse,  or  in 
the  barn  of  a  poor  brother,  it  was  distinctly  stated  where  the  people  might 
expect  entertainment.  This  custom  was  continued  for  many  years  after 
the  houses  of  worship  had  been  built,  which  many  of  my  contemporaries 
can  affirm.  At  the  Clover  Creek  church,  in  Morrison's  Cove,  Pennsyl- 
vania, it  was  announced  that  services  would  be  held  there  again  at  a  stated 
time,  and  the  people  would  be  entertained  at  Brother  Smith's,  and  if  he 
had  no  stable  room,  then  it  was  stated  that  the  horses  would  be  cared  for 
somewhere  else.  I  have  known  cases  when  the  tables  would  be  filled 
as  many  as  four  times,  and  when  it  took  until  half  past  three  in  the  after- 
noon for  all  to  be  served;  and  yet,  would  you  believe  it?  it  was  a  very 
difficult  matter  to  break  up  this  slavish,  expensive,  and  useless  custom. 
Like  the  brazen  serpent  erected  by  Moses  for  a  specific  and  single  purpose, 
the  custom  had  been  given  a  sacred  place. 

These  meetings  the  town  people  called  ''pie  meetings."  The  reason  for 
it  was  because,  invariably,  apple  pies  were  served  with  the  refreshments. 
The  same  custom  prevailed  on  communion  occasions,  and  is  still  practiced 
in  many  out-of-the-way  places,  especially  where  the  German  language  is 
spoken. 

Progressive. — In  this  work  the  word  is  always  used  to  indicate  a  move- 
ment toward  ideal  completeness  or  perfection  in  respect  of  condition  of 
individuals  and  communities  in  morals  and  religion. 

Salutation. — The  kiss  of  love,  or  holy  kiss,  referred  to  in  the  Scrip- 
tures (see  Rom.  t6:i6;  i  Cor.  16:20;  1  Peter  5:14,  etc.),  is  called  the 
Christian  salutation  among  the  Tunkers.  In  the  German  Baptist  Churches 
it  is  practiced  as  a  common  salutation.  Whenever  men  shake  hands,  they 
also  kiss  each  other,  except  recently  it  is  omitted  on  public  occasions,  such 
as  vendues,  agricultural  fairs,  and  entertainments.  Among  the  German 
Baptist    women    there   are   no  exceptions.     In   the   Brethren    Church    it   is 


GLOSSARY.  17 

observed  only  as  an  ordinance  on  occasions  of  worship,  but  is  permitted 
whenever  parties  feel  disposed  to  extend  to  each  other  the  Christian 
salutation. 

Table. — Table  in  Tunker  literature  corresponds  with  pulpit  in  that  of 
other  denominations.  When  applied  to  the  communion,  it  is  usually  quali- 
fied by  the  addition  of  "of  the  Lord,"  or  "communion."  For  more  than 
a  century  many  Tunker  preachers  positively  refused  to  enter  a  pulpit,  and 
there  was  much  disputation  and  hard  feeling  engendered  by  the  discussion 
of  the  subject  before  even  a  platform  a  single  step  high  was  tolerated  in 
the  Tunker  Churches.  The  same  prejudice  is  still  maintained  in  the  Old 
German   Baptist   Church. 

Titles. — It  will  be  found  a  peculiarity  of  this  work,  especially  in  the 
department  pertaining  to  the  Brethren  Church,  to  omit  all  titles  of  office 
or  dignity,  except  in  cases  where  their  use  appears  necessary  to  designate 
a  service  alluded  to  in  the  narrative,  and  not  easily  to  be  understood.  The 
author  believes  that  it  will  be  generally  understood  when  a  person  is 
referred  to  as  having  preached  a  sermon,  that  he  is  a  minister  or  reverend, 
or  any  other  title  by  which  the  reader  may  be  pleased  to  have  him  desig- 
nated; or  when  some  one  presides  at  an  ordination,  organization,  com- 
munion, or  marriage,  that  he  is  an  elder  or  bishop. 

Visit. — The  Tunkers  have  an  ordinance  called  the  visit.  It  is  per- 
formed by  the  deacons  before  each  communion  occasion.  It  is  a  house-to- 
house  visit  among  all  the  members  of  the  congregation.  They  are  expected 
to  invite  the  family  visited  to  a  season  of  devotion  in  their  house,  and  to 
admonish  the  members  to  faithfulness,  and  to  point  out  any  known  irreg- 
ularity in  their  life  in  church  relations ;  to  inquire  whether  they  were  still 
in  the  faith  and  desire  to  remain  with  the  church ;  to  inform  them  of  the 
time  and  place  of  next  communion  meeting,  and  invite  them  to  attend; 
and  to  receive  their  contributions  toward  the  expense  of  the  church. 


KEY    TO    ILLUSTRATIONS 


GERMAN    BAPTIST,    OLD    GERMAN    BAPTIST,    AND    SEVENTH-DAY    GER- 
MAN   BAPTIST    CHURCHES. 

No.  41.  Lordsburg    College,    Cal. 
No.  42.  McPherson    College,   Kans. 
No.  43.  Old  Germantown  Church. 
No.  44.  New    Germantown    Church. 
No.  45.  G.    B.    Church,    Philadelphia. 
No.  46.  Old   Germantown  Parsonage. 


GROUP    1. 

No. 

1. 

Danie 

1    Vaniman. 

No. 

2. 

Christian    Myers. 

No. 

3- 

J  c. 

Harbaugh. 

No. 

4- 

G.  B. 

Royer. 

No. 

5- 

H.  P. 

Albaugh. 

No. 

6. 

C.   S. 

Holsinger. 

No. 

7- 

D.   B 

.    Sturgis. 

No. 

8. 

S.  Z. 

Sharp. 

No. 

9- 

John 

S.  Holsinger. 
GROUP  2. 

No. 

10. 

Grabill  Meyers. 

No. 

11. 

Isaac 

Price. 

No. 

12. 

J.  F. 

Oiler. 

No. 

13- 

C.  G, 

,   Lint. 

No. 

14. 

J.  T. 

Meyers. 

No. 

IS- 

T.  T, 

,  Imler. 

No. 

16. 

T.  T 

.  Meyers. 

No. 

17. 

J.   B. 

Brumbaugh. 
group  3. 

No. 

18. 

Mrs. 

Isaac  Price. 

No. 

19. 

Mrs. 

Jacob    Beck. 

No. 

_'0. 

Mrs. 

J.  F.  Oiler. 

No. 

21. 

Mrs. 

Michael   Raber. 

No. 

22. 

Mrs. 

David  Baringer. 

No. 

23- 

Mrs. 

Buck. 

No. 

24. 

Mrs. 

Hannah   Knauff. 

No. 

25. 

Mrs. 

Josiah   Kimmel. 

111. 


No.  47. 
No.  48. 
No.  49. 
No.  50. 
No.  51. 
No.  52. 

No.  53. 
No.  54. 
No.  55. 
No.  56. 
No.  57- 
No.  58. 


No.  59- 
No.  60. 
No.  61. 
No.  62. 
No.  63. 
No.  64. 


No.  26.  G.  B.   Holsinger. 
No.  27.  Lydia    Schuyler  Allen. 
No.  28.  George  Hanawalt. 
No.  29.  Henry  Koontz. 
No.  30.  Mount    Morris    College, 
No.  31.  Wm.    C.    Thurman. 
No.  32.  Christian   Custer. 
No.  33.  P.  R.  Wrightsman. 
No.  34a.  Elder  Martin  Nehers. 
No.  34.  Snow  Hill  Nunnery. 
No.  35.  Old  Order  Price  Church. 
NO.  36.  Snow  Hill   Nunnery  Church. 
No.  37.  Germantown    Graveyard. 
No.  38.  Old  Green  Tree  Church. 
No.  39.  Old  Coventry  Church. 
No.  40.  G.   B.   Church,   Los   Angeles, 
Cal. 

(18) 


No.  65. 


No.  66. 

No.  67. 

No.  68. 
No.  69. 


GROUP  4. 

A.  H.  Cassel. 
H.  B.  Brumbaugh. 
Thomas   S.   Holsinger. 
Elder  Christian  Hope. 
Elder  S.  W.  Hoover. 
Elder    Andrew    Fahnestock. 

group  5. 
Elder   James    Quinter. 
Elder  R.  H.  Miller. 
Elder  Isaac  Price. 
Elder  Jacob  Fahrney,  M.  D. 
Elder  Jacob   Miller. 
Welty    Church,    where   Fahr- 
ney preached. 

New   Price   Church. 

Old  Price  Church. 

Old  Welty  Church. 

Juniata  College,  Pa. 

Bridgewater   College,   Va. 

Birth-place  of  Gospel  Visi- 
tor, where  the  author  of 
this  book  took  his  first  les- 
sons in  the  art  of  printing. 

Spring  Run  Church,  Pa., 
where  license  was  granted 
to  publish  The  Family 
Companion,  etc. 

German     Baptist     Publishing 

House,  Elgin,  111. 

Bridge   at    Schwarzenau. 

Mt.   Morris    College  Faculty. 

group  6. 


No.  70.  David  Emmert. 
No.  71.  Miss  Phebe  Weakly. 
No.  72.  Prof.  J.  W.  Zuck.     Also  sin- 
gle cut  72. 


KEY    TO    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


19 


No.  73.  Prof.    Archibald   Anderson. 
No.  74.  J.  C.  Ewing. 
No.  75.  Prof.   Brumbaugh. 
No.  76.  Elder    Samuel    Murray    and 
wife. 

group  7. 

No.  77.  Elder  John  W.  Brumbaugh. 

No.  78.  Elder  Daniel  P.  Sayler. 

No.  79.  Peter  S.  Myers. 

No.  80.  Jacob  Holsinger. 

group  8. 

No.  81.  Mrs.  C.  S.  Holsinger. 
No.  82.  Mrs.  H.  B.  Brumbaugh. 
No.  83.  Mrs.  John   S.   Holsinger. 
No.  84.  Dr.  C.  H.  Balsbaugh. 
No.  85.  Elder  M.   M.   Eshelman. 


No.  86.  Elder  John  Fox. 
No.  87.  Elder  John  P.  Ebersole  and 
wife. 

group  9. 
No.  90.  Elder  G.  W.  Brumbaugh. 
No.  91.  I.  G.  Harley,  deacon. 
No.  92.  Elder  T.  B.  Maddocks. 
No.  93.  Elder  J.  S.  Flory. 

No.  94.  Sharpsburg   Church,   Md. 
No.  95.  South   Waterloo   Church,   la. 
No.  96.  Grove    Church    of    Brothers- 
valley   Congregation,    Pa. 
No.  97.  Elder  John  H.  Umsted. 

group  10. 

A  Public  School  in  a  Tunker  Com- 
munity. 


KEY    TO    ILLUSTRATIONS 


BRETHREN    CHURCH. 


No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No.  10. 
No.  ii. 
No.  12. 
No.  13. 
No.  14. 
No.  15. 
No.  16. 
No.  17. 
No.  18. 


GROUP     I. 

E.  E.  Roberts. 

Mrs.  E.   E.   Roberts. 

Mrs.  Wm.  Kolb. 

Wm.   Kolb. 

Mrs.  J.  C.  Cassel. 

J.  C.  Cassel. 

Frank   Balderston. 

Mrs.  Balderston. 

Mrs.  Emma  Kinsing. 

Mrs.  Horace  Kolb. 

Wm.    Kolb. 

Horace  Kolb. 

Mrs.   Rebecca   Balderston. 

Mrs.  P.   B.  Clymer. 

Edward   Cnes. 

Peter    B.    Clymer. 

H.   C.   Cassel. 

Mrs.   H.   C.   Cassel. 

GROUP  2. 

No.  19.  J.  H.  Knepper. 
No.  20.  M.  C.  Meyers. 
No.  21.  Roger  Darling. 
No.  22.  W.   M.   Lyon. 
No.  23.  J.  B.  Wampler. 
No.  24.  Christian  Forney. 
No.  25.  A.  P.  Reed. 
No.  26.  J.   L.   Gallin. 

No.  27.  Lanar,  Illinois. 

No.  28.  M.  J.  Thomas. 

No.  29.  Enon   Church,   Iowa. 

No.  30.  Samuel    Leedy   and    wife. 

No.  35.  Isaac   Kilhefner. 

No.  36.  Susan   Holsinger. 

No.  ^7  Hannah    Holsinger    Garver. 

No.  38.  Martin    Shivery. 

group  3. 

No.  39.  Noah   Heater. 
No.  40.  Jno.   Nicholson. 
No.  41.  Jacob    Rothenberger. 
No.  42.  Daniel    Hendricks. 
No.  43.  Jonathan  Jay. 
No.  44.  D.   S.   Cripe." 
No.  45.  J.   H.    Swihart. 
No.  46.  J.   G.  Winey. 
No.  47.  Ester   Dickey. 

(20) 


No.  48. 

Laura    Grossnickle   Hec 

Iricks. 

No.  49. 

J.  H.  Palmer. 

No.  50. 

E.  L.  Yoder. 

No.  51. 

John   A.   Myers. 

No.  52. 

J.  O.  Tally. 

No.  53. 

W.   C.   Perry. 

No.  54. 

J.  F.  Koontz. 

No.  55. 

J.   Allen   Miller. 

No.  56. 

C.  E.  Deffenbaugh. 

No.  57. 

D.  C.   Christner. 

No.  58. 

S.  H.  Bashor. 

No.  59. 

A.  S.  Menaugh. 

No.  60. 

D.  A.  Hopkins. 

No.  61. 

H.    S.   Enslow. 

No.  62. 

W.   L.    Spanogle. 

No.  63. 

J.  M.  Tombaugh. 

No.  64. 

Eliza    Stoneburner. 

No.  65. 

Henry  Wise. 

No.  66. 

John   Stuckman. 

No.  68. 

W.   M.   Summers. 

No.  69. 

I.   N.   Miller. 

No.  70. 

B.  C.  Moomaw. 

No.  71. 

Chris.    Forney. 

No.  72. 

Josiah   Keim. 

No.  73- 

M.   M.  Eshelman. 

No.  74. 

W.   J.   H.   Bauman. 

No.  75. 

Jesse   Calvert. 

No.  76. 

Geo.  A.   Copp. 

No.  77. 

Zed  H.  Copp. 

No.  78. 

H.   R.  Holsinger. 

No.  79. 

R.  K.  Binkley. 

No.  80. 

S.   J.    Harrison. 

No.  81. 

A.   D.    Gnagey. 

No.  82. 

J.  B.  Wampler. 

No.  83. 

Daniel   Crawford. 

No.  84. 

D.   M.   Rittenhouse. 

No.  85. 

G.  W.  Rench. 

No.  88. 

I.   D.   Bowman. 

No.  89. 

E.   B.    Shaver. 

GROUP   4. 

No.  90.  J.   D.   McFaden. 
No.  91.  J.  M.  Tombaugh, 
No.  92.  R.  R.  Teeter. 
No.  93.  M.    S.    White. 
No.  94.  W.  H.   Miller. 
No.  95.  William  Keifer. 
No.  96.  Z.   T.   Livengood. 
No.  97.  W.   S.  McClain. 


KEY    TO    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


21 


GROUP    5. 

No.  98.  D.   A.   Hopkins. 
No.  99.  R.   Z.   Replogle. 
No.  100.  S.   B.  Grisso. 
No.  101.  Daniel    Miller. 
No.  102.  D.  C.  Ullery. 
No.  103.  A.    R.    Bemenderfer. 
No.  104.  B.   F.   Schisler. 
No.  105.  J.  L.   Kimmel. 

group  6. 


No. 

106. 

Noah   Flora. 

No. 

107. 

G.  W.  Rench. 

No. 

108. 

V.  M.   Reichard. 

No. 

109. 

D.  J.  Hetric. 

No. 

no. 

Alonza     Shrum. 

No. 

in. 

Walter   Clark. 

No. 

112. 

Jacob  Mnsser. 

No. 

113- 

Samuel  Forney. 

No. 

114. 

Elias    Teeter. 
group  7. 

No. 

124. 

John  Dalzell. 

No. 

125- 

Duke   McFaden. 

No. 

126. 

Blaine   Replogle. 

No. 

127. 

L.  W.  Ditch. 

No. 

128. 

J.   D.   McFaden. 

No. 

129. 

W.  A.  Harman. 

No. 

130. 

Henry    Wise. 

No. 

131- 

J.   M.   Murry. 

No. 

132. 

T.    H.   Knepper. 

No. 

133- 

j.   L.   Gillin. 

No. 

134- 

S.  L.   Buck. 

No. 

135- 

W.   H.    Miller. 

No. 

136. 

Eli    Hoover. 

No. 

137- 

John    Copp. 

No. 

138. 

R.    Z.    Replogle. 

No. 

139- 

Dr.    McGregor. 

No. 

140. 

Jacob  A.  Hazel. 

No. 

141. 

A.   S.  Menaugh. 

No. 

142. 

A.   R.    Bemenderfer. 

No. 

144. 

D.   C.  Moomaw. 

No. 

145- 

J.   Allen   Miller. 

No. 

146. 

R.   R.   Teeter. 

No. 

147. 

P.  M.   Swinehart. 

No. 

148. 

Kauffman. 

No. 

149. 

J.  L.  Bowman. 

No. 

150. 

J.   C.   Mackey. 

No. 

I5L 

Jack  Miller. 

No. 

152. 

J.    M.    Tombaugh. 

No. 

153- 

E.    E.    Haskins. 

No. 

155- 

DanieJ  Crofford. 

No. 

156. 

J.  C.   Cassel. 

No. 

157. 

Roger  Darling. 

No.  158.  J.   W.   Smouse. 

No.  159.  Stephen     Hildebrand. 

No.  160.  Wm.    Menges. 

No.  161.  B.   H.   Flora. 

No.  162.  J.  E.   Roop. 

No.  163.  Hiram    Gochnour. 

No.  164.  H.   R.   Holsinger. 

No.  166.  J.  F.  Koontz. 

No.  167.  J.   M.  dinger. 

No.  168.  J.    B.   Wampler. 


No.  169.  J.   H.    Swihart. 
No.  170.  H.   R.   Holsinger. 
No.  171.  Edward  Mason. 
No.  172.  E.   L.   Yoder. 
No.  173.  P.   F.    Brown. 
No.  174.  S.   H.   Bashor. 
No.  175.  H.    R.   Holsinger. 
No.  176.  Edward   Mason. 
No.  177.  J.  A.  Ridenour. 
No.  178.  E.  L.  Yoder. 

GROUP   9. 

No.  179.  W.  L.  Spanogle. 

No.  180.  Wm.   Keifer. 

No.  181.  J.   H.    Swihart. 

No.  182.  W.  J.  H.  Bauman. 

No.  183.  E.   L.   Yoder. 

No.  184.  J.   W.   Beer. 

No.  185.  Stephen   Hildebrand. 

No.  186.  D.  S.  Cripe. 

No.  187.  J.  P.  Martin. 

No.  188.  Edward   Mason. 

No.  189.  George   Neff. 

No.  190.  H.  F.  Hixon. 

No.  191.  J.  H.   Worst. 

No.  192.  J.  A.  Ridenour. 

No.  193.  S.   H.   Bashor. 

No.  194.  H.   R.   Holsinger. 

No.  195.  R.  Z.  Replogle. 

No.  196.  P.  J.   Brown. 

N0.197.  E.   S.   Miller. 

No.  198.  Henry   Jacobs. 

No.  199.  A.  A.   Cober. 

No.  200.  Samuel    Keehl. 

No.  201.  J.    W.    Fitzgerald. 

No.  202.  T.  E.  Davis. 

No.  203.  J.   C.   Cripe. 

No.  204.  J.  B.  Wampler. 

No.  205.  Levi  Fry. 

No.  206.  Schoolhouse  No.  7. 

No.  207.  Mrs.   Thomas  Clayton. 


22 


KEY     TO     ILLUSTRATIONS. 


GROUP  10. 

No.  208.  Ananias  Becknel. 

No.  209.  Mrs.  Peter  Smith. 

No.  210.  Mrs.    David    Becknell. 

No.  211.  Mrs.   E.   Rhorer. 

No.  212.  Mrs.  John  Kline. 

No.  213.  Mrs.  John   Dubbs. 

No.  214.  Mrs.  William  Fisher. 

No.  215.  William  Fisher. 

No.  216.  John    Montgomery. 

No.  217.  Brother    Switzer. 

No.  218.  Enoch  Rhorer. 

No.  220.  Mrs.    Vestal    Cammack. 

No.  221.  H.    R.   Holsinger. 

No.  222.  John   Dubbs. 

No.  223.  William   Fisher. 


No.  225. 
No.  226. 
No.  227. 
No.  22S. 
No.  229. 
No.  230. 
No.  231. 
No.  232.  G.  A. 
No.  233.  W.  J 


GROUP   II. 

Daniel   Crofford. 
J.  O.  Tally. 
Henry  Wise. 
Beer   and   Wampler. 
J.  C.  Mackey. 
S.   J.    Harrison. 
I.  J.   Thomas. 

Copp. 

H.   Bauman. 


group  12. 
No.  234.  George  Wolfe. 
No.  235.  John  P.  Wolfe. 
No.  236.  Henry  J.  Frantz. 
No.  237.  A.   J.    Hixon. 
No.  238.  Solomon    C.   Stump. 
No.  239.  Jacob  Miller. 


No.  240.  E. 
No.  241.  M 
No.  242.  J. 
No.  243.  J. 
No.  244 
No.  245 
No.  246 
No.  247 
No.  248 


GROUP   13. 

H.   Smith. 
A.  Witter. 

L.    Bowman. 

H.   Burnworth. 
D.   J.   Bole. 
Henry  Murr. 
Samuel    Kiehl. 
S.   W.   WTilt. 
Elder  Isaac  Leedy. 


GROUP    14. — DEACONS. 

No.  249.  Hon.  C.  C.  Musselman. 
No.  250.  Josiah    Kimmel. 
No.  251.  Hon.  E.  J.  Myers. 
No.  252.  Dr.   W.   K.   Beachly. 
No.  253.  Dr.   G.   W.   Brallier. 
No.  254.  B.    G.    Frederick. 
No.  255.  D.  J.  Myers. 


No.  256.  Thomas   Clayton. 
No.  257.  Ross  J.  Miller. 
No.  258.  J.  C.  Ewing. 
No.  259.  Dr.  R.  E.  Cable. 
No.  260.  Frank   Fields. 
No.  261.  Geo.  B.  Replogle. 

GROUP    15. — WOMEN    PREACHERS. 

No.  262.  Laura       Grossnickle       Hed- 

ricks. 
No.  263.  Mrs.   Sadie  Gibbons. 
No.  264.  Miss    Mary    M.    Sterling. 
No.  265.  Mrs.   Clara  Flora. 
No.  266.  Mrs.  M.  C.  Myers. 
No.  267.  Mrs.  L.  S.  Bauman. 

GROUP     l6. — PREACHERS'    WIVES. 

No.  268.  Mrs.  J.   W.   Beer. 

No.  269.  Mrs.  John  P.  Wolfe. 

No.  270.  Mrs.  John   H.  Knepper. 

No.  271.  Mrs.  J.  O.  Tally. 

No.  272.  Mrs.  S.  H.  Bashor. 

No.  273.  Mrs.  Z.  T.  Livengood. 

No.  274.  Mrs.  J.   H.    Burnworth. 

No.  275.  Mrs.  Christ.    Forney. 

No.  276.  Mrs.  J.  C.  Mackey. 

group  17. 
No.  277.  A.   B.  Horner  and  wife. 
No.  278.  E.  G.  Bickley. 
No.  279.  Samuel    Lichty. 
No.  280.  Miss    Sadie    Harrison. 
No.  281.  Miss    Ida   Harrison. 
No.  282.  Miss   Laura   Teeter. 
No.  283.  Jennie  Harrison. 
No.  284.  Joseph    Forney. 
No.  285.  John  M.  Lichty. 
No.  286.  D.   G.   Lichty. 
No.  287.  Mrs.  J.  M.  Sayler. 
No.  288.  Mrs.  John  Hildebrand. 
No.  289.  John    P.  Beck. 
No.  290.  Ephraim    Hoover. 
No.  291.  Eli    Hoover. 
No.  292.  David  Harrison. 


No.  293. 
No.  294. 
No.  295. 
No.  296. 
No.  297. 
No.  298. 
No.  299.  F. 
No.  300 
No.  301 


group  18. 

Holsinger. 
A.   Amend. 
M.  Lichty. 
M.   Oberholtzer. 
H.   Beachly. 
C.  Carpenter. 
B.   McCullough. 
Dyoll    Belote. 
Ada    Sanger. 


KEY    TO    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


23 


No.  302.  Ed.   Burnworth. 
No.  303.  Prof.  J.  A.  Miller. 
No.  304.  Geo.  Whistler. 
No.  305.  Miss  Vianna  Detwiler. 

group  19. 

No.  306.  Dyoll   Belote. 
No.  307.  Wallace  Garber. 
No.  308.  A.  H.  Lichty. 
No.  309.  H.  M.  Oberholtzer. 
No.  310.  W.  A.  Amend. 
No.  311.  Prof.   Garber. 
No.  312.  Homer    Fallentine. 
No.  313.  G.    C.    Carpenter. 
No.  314.  C.    E.    Carpenter. 
No.  315.  Mable  Garber. 
No.  316.  M.  A.  Witter. 
No.  317.  Emma    Gnagey. 
No.  318.  Vianna  Detwiler. 
No.  320.  C.  E.  Weidner.      (See  Group 
Eighteen.) 

group    20. 

No.  321.  Martin    Shivery. 

No.  322.  H.   S.  Enslow. 

No.  323.  Jonathan  Myers. 

No.  324.  J.   W.  Beer. 

No.  325.  J.   G.   Winey. 

No.  326.  Strother    Hansel. 

No.  327.  L.   A.   Hazlett. 

No.  328.  L.  S.  Bauman. 

No.  329.  John   A.   Myers. 

group  21. 

No.  330.  J.  M.  Olinger. 
E.  E.  Haskins. 
William  Byers. 
J.   R.   Keller. 


No.  331 
No.  332 
No.  333 

„  ,.  jut.    u.    ivi.    n 
No.  335.  John    Sterling 

No.  336.  Berlin      Church,      Pennsyl- 


^"■ooo-  j-   —   -^eiier. 

No.  334.  Dr.   U.   M.   Beachley. 

V.f  <^t-1it-i  or 


No.  345.  Moses  Frick. 
No.  346.  Mrs.  W.   R.   Frick. 
No.  347.  Jacob   Frick. 
No.  348.  Miss  Ella  Oakes. 
No.  349.  Miss   Mary   Lichty. 
No.  350.  Mrs.  S.  J.  Holsinger. 
No.  351.  Mrs.  H.  R.  Holsinger. 
No.  352.  S.    J.    Holsinger. 
No.  353.  H.  R.  Holsinger. 
No.  354.  P.  G.  Nowag. 
No.  355.  Mrs.  P.  G.  Nowag. 
No.  356.  Mrs.   George   D.    Paul. 
No.  357.  Mrs.   Thos.   Clayton. 
No.  358.  Franklin  Forney  and  grand- 
children. 
No.  359.  Mrs.  H.  S.  Enslow. 

group  23. 

No.  360.  Mrs.  Laura     Slotter     Wil- 
liams. 

No.  361.  Mrs.  Ellen    Gnagey    Lichty. 

No.  362.  Mrs.  Martin    Shively. 

No.  363.  Mrs.  W.   S.  Reyner. 

No.  364.  Mrs.  Alice  Slotter  Leonard. 

No.  365.  Miss  Minnie    Isbell. 

No.  366.  C.   F.  Yoder. 

No.  367.  Mapleville,    Maryland. 

group  24. 
No.  368.  P.  H.  Beaver. 
No.  369.  I.  D.  Bowman. 
No.  370.  Isaac    Kilhefner. 
No.  371.  Dr.  J.  E.  Roop. 
No.  372.  William  W.   Summers. 

group  25. 
No.  373.  Lydia    Stahlhafer. 
No.  374.  Mrs.  Samuel  Kiehl. 


No.  337.  Washington.   D.    C. 
No.  338.  Johnstown,     Pa.,     after    the 
flood. 

GROUP   22. 

No.  339.  Mrs.  John  Lohman. 
No.  340.  Mrs.  John  Lohman. 
No.  341.  Mrs.  Poley,  mother  of  Kate 

Gamble. 
No.  342.  Mrs.  J.  C.  Ewing. 
No.  343.  Miss  Ida  Frick. 
No.  344.  W.  R.  Frick. 


No.  375.  Mrs. 

bert. 

No.  376.  Mrs. 

No.  377.  Mrs. 


Matie  Moomaw   Lam- 
Benjamin    Benshoff. 
G.  W.  Rench. 

GROUP  26. 

Pennsylvania     State     Conference    of 
1897,    at    New    Enterprise. 

group  27. 
No.  378.  J.   G.   Kimmel   and  wife. 
No.  379.  Benjamin    Benshoff. 
No.  380.  Solomon    Benshoff. 

group  28. 
No.  381.  David    Augustine. 
No.  382.  Jacob  P.  Lichty  and  wife. 


24 


LIST    OF    AUTHORS. 


No.  383.  C.  F.  Yoder.  No.  388.  College   Dormitory. 

No.  384.  A.  J.  Ingleright.  No.  389.  J.  B.  Early. 

No.  385.  C.  P.  Guinther.  No.  390.  Pittsburgh,    Pa. 

No.  386.  Jos.  W.  Lichty  and  family.   No.  391.  Waterloo,   Iowa. 

No.  392.  Milford,   Ind. 
No.  387.  Ashland    College.  No.  393.  Warsaw,   Ind. 


LIST   OF   AUTHORS    QUOTED    IN    THIS   WORK 

We  are  indebted  to  the  following  writers,  whose  names  it  was  not  con- 
venient to  place  in  connection  with  their  productions.  The  articles  from 
which  we  have  copied  were  mostly  contributions  to  some  church  period- 
ical, weekly,  or  annual.  The  authors  should  not  be  held  accountable  for 
any  errors  or  imperfections  that  may  have  occurred,  as  we  purposed  to 
use  their  articles  only  as  data,  and  have  so  done,  except  in  cases  where  the 
original  was  too  good  to  be  changed.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
abbreviate  in  order  to  bring  the  articles  within  the  scope  of  our  work. 
We  are  grateful  for  the  opportunitv  of  using  the  information  therein  con- 
tained. 


AUTHORS. 


John   Calvin  Bright. 
S.  F.  Sanger. 
J.  H.  Moore. 
Owen  Opperman. 
Geo.  W.  Cripe. 


David  Bailey. 


Daniel    Wine. 
M.    M.    Eshelman. 
I.  J.  Rosenberger. 
D.   B.  Gibson. 
B.  C.  Moomaw. 


HISTORY    OF  THE  TUNKERS 


CHAPTER    I 
PREHISTORIC 

A  feeling  of  opposition  to  the  government  of  the  mother  coun- 
try, and  a  sentiment  favoring  the  independence  of  the  colonies, 
prevailed  among  the  early  settlers  of  America  long  before  the 
adoption  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  and  so  it  may  be 
said  of  the  organization  whose  history  we  are  about  to  record. 
There  was  much  dissatisfaction  with  the  prevailing  churches, 
some,  perhaps,  more  imaginary  than  real,  but  much  of  it,  no 
doubt,  too  well  founded. 

Dissatisfaction  with  one's  circumstances  inspires  him  with  a 
desire  and  hope  for  improvement,  and  such  solicitude  also  dis- 
covers appropriate  remedies.  "Necessity  is  the  mother  of  inven- 
tion." We  shall  not  attempt  to  account  for  all  the  discontent 
and  complaint  that  existed  among  the  laity  of  the  churches,  previ- 
ous to  and  during  the  reformation ;  but  the  existence  of  such 
sentiments  is  a  well-established  fact  in  history.  Nothing  very 
good  is  likely  to  come  from  discontent  alone ;  it  simply  irritates, 
and  seldom  provokes  to  love.  It  is  a  holy  ambition  for  better 
things — a  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness — that  is 
prolific  of  good  results  and  the  accomplishing  of  great  things. 

A  steady  rein  restrains  the  steed,  but  too  severe  bits  cause  him 
to  rear,  and  suggest  breaking  away.  Firmness  is  a  grace  in  gov- 
ernment and  good  order,  but  severity  is  despotism,  and  breeds 
anarchy. 

The  study  of  the  history  of  Christianity  during  the  period  dat- 
ing from  1695  to  1750,  in  connection  with  that  of  the  Brethren 
Church,  is  very  interesting.  The  severity  with  which  the  clergy 
governed  the  churches  of  that  day  brought  about  a  terrible 
reaction,  resulting  in  strong  opposition  to  almost  every  measure 

(25) 


26  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

advocated  by  them.  The  churches  were  regarded — and  we  fear 
justly,  too — as  being  nothing  more  than  worldly  institutions 
maintained  for  the  subservience  of  the  clergy  and  dignitaries 
of  the  church,  much  as  the  national  government  is  looked  upon 
by  anarchists  of  this  time.  The  colleges  and  their  faculties  were 
denounced  as  broods  of  infamy ;  the  synods,  as  schools  of  iniq- 
uity; and  the  pastors,  as  leeches,  feeding  upon  the  blood  of  the 
common  people. 

The  importance  of  German  church  history  to  the  student  of 
the  history  of  our  own  people  will  appear  more  apparent  from 
the  consideration  that  all  previous  preaching  and  practices  had 
their  influence,  more  or  less,  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the 
people  of  that  and  future  generations.  We  are  all  influenced 
to  some  extent  by  our  environments.  Especially  was  this  so 
regarding  points  not  claimed  to  be  decided  by  positive  revelation. 
By  the  study  of  the  practices,  principles,  and  teaching  of  their 
predecessors,  we  may  learn  how  far  they  are  an  original  church. 

It  is  not  essential  to  an  orthodox  denomination  that  her  organ- 
ization should  date  back  to  the  apostolic  age.  It  is  only  essential 
that  she  be  established  on  the  truth.  The  gospel  of  Christ  is  the 
truth.  ("Thy  word  is  truth.")  The  time  and  place  are  matters 
of  indifference.  But  we  do  claim  for  the  Tunker  Church  that 
all  her  sacred  peculiar  doctrines  and  practices  may  be  traced  all 
along  the  historical  highway  from  Christ  and  His  apostles  down 
to  the  organization  at  Schwartzenau,  in  a.  d.  1708.  At  times  and 
in  places  the  road  abounds  in  rich  findings  of  important  data  of 
the  doings  of  the  devotees  of  the  religion  of  the  Master,  and  at 
other  points  it  is  almost  destitute  of  any  well-beaten  landmarks 
to  indicate  the  travels  of  the  fathers,  by  even  the  waysides. 
This  would  indicate  that  they  did  not  always  travel  in  "the 
middle  of  the  road."  Sometimes  they  may  have  attempted  to 
take  the  byways  and  short  cuts,  and  again  they  were,  no  doubt, 
driven  into  the  wilderness  by  their  persecutors.  It  is  evident, 
however,  that  whenever  they  were  permitted  to  travel  unhindered, 
in  the  light  of  liberty  and  knowledge,  they  always  left  indications 
of  having  read  the  Gospel,  and  a  disposition  to  obey  it,  according 


PREHISTORIC.  27 

to  the  letter  of  the  word.  This  goes  a  great  way  toward  con- 
firming my  oft-repeated  assertion,  that  conscientious  readers  of 
God's  Word,  uninfluenced  by  fear  or  favor,  with  an  intelligent 
understanding  of  the  language  in  which  they  read  the  Bible, 
would  declare  the  same  doctrine,  and  practice  the  same  ordinances 
in  substantially  the  same  manner.  The  different  practices  of  the 
ordinances  of  the  gospel,  by  the  different  denominations,  do  not 
obtain  from  any  deficiency  of  clearness  of  statement  in  the  Word 
so  much  as  from  the  different  coloring  of  glasses  through  which 
men  read  the  Word.  It  can  not  be  possible  that  the  Bible,  which 
is  inspired  of  God,  and  was  written  by  men  filled  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,  should  be  so  full  of  imperfections  as  to  need  correction 
by  uninspired  and  irreligious  persons  of  very  ordinary  mental 
endowment.  If  that  were  true,  or  possible  to  be  true,  it  would 
put  inspiration  on  a  very  cheap  value  indeed.  The  very  fact 
that  we  accept  a  book  or  document  as  being  inspired,  places  it 
beyond  everything  else  in  comparison  to  it  in  point  of  accuracy 
or  truthfulnesss,  on  the  subjects  taught  therein.  Any  assertion 
bearing  the  imprint  of  inspiration  from  God,  is  beyond  human 
criticism ;  it  needs  no  confirmation,  and  dare  not  be  denied  or 
doubted.  It  emanates  from  the  highest  authority  known  to  men 
or  angels.  When  it  is  accepted  as  such,  it  will  be  received  and 
obeyed  in  like  manner  by  all  who  so  accept  it,  and  who  have  the 
capability  of  understanding  the  truths  taught,  and  the  liberty  of 
obeying  what  is  enjoined.  We  may  find  some  of  the  principles  of 
Tunkerism  among  the  followers  of  Christ  from  the  days  of  Christ 
to  the  Reformation.  Some  of  these  we  regard  as  of  sufficient 
importance  to  be  noticed  herein. 

THE   WALDENSES. 

The  Waldenses  were  a  people  of  whose  organization  we  know 
but  little.  We  are  told  that  they  were  founded  by  Peter  Waldo, 
at  Lyons,  about  a.  d.  1170,  after  whom  they  were  named.  Perse- 
cution drove  them  to  the  valley  of  Piedmont,  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  where  they  lived  in  retirement,  and  in  the  wilderness  or 
groves ;  and  another  historian  says  on  that  account  they  were 


28  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

called  Waldenses,  from  "Wald,"  woods;  "woods  people"  (Thall- 
eute).  While  they  are  not  universally  acknowledged  as  evangel- 
ical, they  are  declared  to  be  scripturally  devout  and  scrupulously 
pious. 

We  observe  a  striking  similarity  between  the  Waldenses  and 
the  Tunkers,  and  especially  in  the  "Declaration  of  Principles"  of 
the  Progressive  Brethren.     For  instance : — 

They  taught  and  required  unconditional  submission  and 
obedience  to  the  New  Testament  in  all  its  requirements, 
which  they  acknowledged  as  the  Word  of  God,  and  which 
took  the  place  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  most  vigorously 
opposed  the  church  creeds  and  professions  of  the  ruling 
churches,  that  were  simply  the  decisions  of  men,  without 
scriptural  authority.  They  opposed  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  which  they  regarded  as  the  mother  of  harlots,  and 
demanded  a  separation  from  that  church,  as  well  as  from  all  who 
sympathized  with  her  or  recognized  her  as  evangelical;  opposed 
the  usages  of  churches  supplanting  true  inward  gospel  ethics  and 
Christian  discipline.  They,  therefore,  required  more  than  sim- 
ple obedience  to  the  outward  ordinances  of  the  church,  as  an  evi- 
dence of  gospel  regeneration,  and  strove  to  attain  to  a  genuine, 
inward,  conscious,  personal  renewal  through  the  Holy  Spirit. 
They  discriminated  between  that  formal,  nominal  fellowship  with 
the  worldly  church  relationship,  and  fellowship  with  the  separate 
people  of  God,  who  had  withdrawn  from  all  secular  relation  with 
the  world  and  its  votaries  ;  and  only  such  as  had  thus  withdrawn 
from  the  world  did  they  recognize  as  true  Christians.  They  so 
vehemently  opposed  all  ordinances  of  men,  and  so  tenaciously 
advocated  the  gospel  alone,  that  many  of  them  had  committed  the 
greater  part  of  the  Xew  Testament  to  memory.  They  taught 
prayer  "in  spirit  and  in  truth,"  and  discarded  all  unscriptural 
practices  in  connection  with  baptism  and  the  communion,  relat- 
ing to  mere  form,  such  as  clothing,  ceremonials  of  the  priests, 
calling  on  the  saints,  etc.  It  will  be  remembered  by  many  at 
this  day  that  the  Brethren  were  referred  to  as  "Gospelers,"  by 
the    conservative    papers,  during   the    transitional    state    of    the 


PREHISTORIC.  29 

church.  It  is  also  said  of  the  Waldenses  that  they  kept  a  careful 
notice  of  their  poor,  which  duty  was  intrusted  to  the  deaconship. 
They  carefully  observed  the  restrictions  of  the  Saviour  against 
taking  oaths,  and  opposed  all  lascivious  indulgence,  such  as  danc- 
ing, which  they  called  the  "process  of  the  devil."  The  saloon 
they  named  the  ''school  of  the  devil." 

THE  BAPTISTS. 

Max  Goebel,  in  his  "Geschichten  des  Geistlichen  Lebens," 
speaking  of  the  Baptists  of  the  sixteenth  century,  says :  "They 
represent  an  entirely  distinct  and  separate  people  in  their  Christian 
lives.  Although  they  wrere  constantly  persecuted,  they  could  not 
be  entirely  subjugated.  Their  peculiarities — which  separated 
them  from  the  other  sects  of  that  period,  1600-1650 — consisted 
mainly  in  the  fact  that  they  persistently  demanded  genuine 
repentance  and  regeneration  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  every 
individual,  and  that  of  his  own  free  will  and  choice.  They  also 
required  an  entire  separation  from  all  other  spiritual  and  worldly 
things,  whether  church  or  state,  and  uniting  with  the  church  of 
the  truly  regenerated,  and  to  take  upon  himself  a  vow  of  absti- 
nence from  everything  worldly  or  sinful  through  the  Christian 
discipline  of  the  church.  They  also  taught  the  community  of 
goods,  at  least  a  very  liberal  distribution  of  their  spiritual  and 
temporal  possessions,  and  demanded  a  peaceable  and  non-resisting 
life.  They  did  not  only  set  forth  these  doctrines  in  their  pro- 
fessions, as  did  the  Lutherans,  but  enforced  them  in  their  system 
of  church  government.  Their  aim  and  purpose  appeared  to  be 
to  bring  together  into  one  bond  of  fellowship  all  truth-loving, 
believing,  obedient,  regenerated  children  of  God,  out  of  the  great 
unregenerate  mass  of  sinful  humanity ;  these  to  represent  the 
wise  virgins  ready  to  go  forth  to  meet  the  Bridegroom  at  His 
coming. 

They  claim  for  their  special  work  in  the  Reformation  the 
-restoring  of  the  right  of  liberty  of  conscience  to  every  believer  in 
Christ,  to  work  out  his  own  salvation. 

Their  rejection  and  denunciation  of  infant  baptism,  and  their 


30  HISTORY    OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

universal  and  public  practice  of  immersion,  and  especially  the 
baptism  of  those  who  had  been  sprinkled  for  baptism,  exposed 
them  to  the  contempt  and  scorn  of  the  dominant  sects  of  their 
age.  They  were,  therefore,  persecuted,  and  many  of  them  suf- 
fered martyrdom. 

Persecution  and  martyrdom  were  all  the  more  readily  effected 
upon  them,  inasmuch  as  the  Baptists  discarded  all  the  other 
reformers  and  reformations,  and  ignored  the  authority  of  the 
government  over  them.  History  informs  us  that  as  early  as  15 17, 
before  the  Reformation,  Baptists  were  executed  in  Germany. 

However,  I  believe  I  have  found  in  the  Waldenses  the  most 
complete  antitype  of  the  Tunkers.  Although  it  is  not  universally 
admitted  that  they  were  all  and  always  immersionists,  yet  the 
best  authorities  admit  them  to  have  been  Anabaptists.  Von 
Braght  gave  many  good  authorities  for  that  view,  and  among 
the  Baptists  of  Germany  in  1524  were  many  Waldenses  who  had 
removed  into  that  domain.  It  is  also  claimed  for  them,  by  our 
German  historian,  that  they  did  not  regard  infant  baptism,  and 
that  they  also  did  not  claim  for  it  the  power  of  regeneration. 
That  power  they  attributed  alone  to  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

THE  PIETISTS. 

The  Pietists  were  a  class  of  religious  reformers  in  Germany 
during  the  seventeenth  century,  who  sought  to  revive  declining 
piety  in  the  Protestant  churches.  Among  them  were  to  be  found 
men  of  all  shades  of  religious'  opinions,  which  were  at  variance 
with  the  established  churches.  In  this  aggregation  of  persons 
holding  widely  differing  views  on  almost  all  Christian  duties, 
except  those  of  devotion  and  piety,  it  was  found  difficult  to  col- 
lect a  sufficient  number  who  were  of  "one  mind"  to  establish  a 
congregation.  As  long  as  they  kept  prominently  before  them- 
selves their  specialty,  and  devoted  themselves  assiduously  to  the 
cultivation  of  their  favorite  virtue,  they  prospered  greatly. 

There  appears  to  have  been  a  special  revival  among  the  Pietists 
during  the  first  several  years  of  the  seventeenth  century.  They 
held  house-to-house  meetings  besides  the  regular  services.     At 


PREHISTORIC.  31 

these  private  gatherings  the  young  converts  presented  themselves 
for  prayers  and  instruction  in  the  higher  attainments  of  the 
Christian  life.  Unfortunately  for  them,  their  frequent  assemblies 
attracted  the  notice  of  their  enemies,  and  inflamed  the  spirit  of 
jealousy,  and  persecution  speedily  followed.  Many  of  them  were 
driven  from  their  homes  in  Switzerland,  Wirtemberg,  Hesse- 
Cassel,  and  other  places.  A  number  of  these  exiles  found  refuge 
at  Witgenstein,  under  the  government  of  a  friendly  count, 
through  whose  intercession  liberty  of  conscience  was  granted. 
This  leniency  on  the  part  of  the  local  government  had  the  effect 
of  inducing  a  heavy  immigration  to  the  community,  although  the 
land  was  rough  and  the  soil  barren.  Most  of  them  settled  at 
Schwarzenau,  about  three  miles  from  Berlenberg.  This  influx 
of  people  greatly  increased  the  population  of  the  place,  and  gave 
it  prominence  among  the  towns  of  the  province. 

In  their  endeavors  to  administer  wholesome  discipline  among 
themselves,  the  Pietists  were  again  made  to  feel  the  necessity  of 
better  organization.  They  felt  a  desire  to  put  into  practise  the 
instructions  given  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew,  "If  thy 
brother  shall  trespass  against  thee,  go  tell  him  his  fault  between 
thee  and  him  alone;'  etc.,  but  they  could  not  agree  upon  any  sys- 
tem of  church  government.  Some  of  them  did  not  want  to  be 
under  any  restraint,  nor  to  submit  to  any  discipline,  no  matter 
how  salutary  it  might  be.  Others  returned  to  the  churches  which 
they  had  left,  while  still  others  drifted  into  outright  infidelity. 
This  degeneracy  and  the  discouragements  which  followed  caused 
some  of  the  more  sincere  among  them  to  become  all  the  more 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  reviving  primitive  Christianity, 
by  following  the  Saviour  in  all  His  commands  and  ordinances. 
They  were  especially  convinced  of  the  importance  of  faith  and 
obedience  to  effect  genuine  reformation  unto  salvation.  Their 
scriptural  researches  had  also  assured  them  that  Christian  bap- 
tism was  an  important  ordinance,  which  was  closely  related  to 
salvation,  but  which  had  often  been  lightly  spoken  of  among  the 
Pietists,  to  the  great  sorrow  of  those  who  truly  loved  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 


32  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Our  Saviour,  during  His  presence  among  men,  taught  the  peo- 
ple that  His  kingdom  resembled  a  number  of  natural  things,  the 
nature  of  which  they  understood  much  better  than  they  did  the 
character  of  the  religion  which  He  came  to  establish  ;  and  to  get 
the  gist  of  His  instructions  it  becomes  us  to  study  carefully  the 
metaphors  He  makes  use  of,  and  to  apply  them  intelligently. 
After  prayerfully  investigating  the  parables  which  refer  to  the 
subject  named,  I  have  arrived  at  the  following  conclusions: — 

1.  That  the  terms  "kingdom  of  God"  and  "kingdom  of 
heaven"  do  not  always  imply  a  visible  or  temporal  organization. 

2.  That  the  two  terms  are  practically  the  same,  and  may  be 
used  interchangeably. 

3.  That  in  most  cases  where  they  do  apply  to  an  organization 
they  may  be  used  to  designate  the  church  of  Christ. 

I.  Let  us  now  consider  some  of  the  cases  where  we  think  the 
phrase  "kingdom  of  heaven"  need  not  be  understood  as  referring 
to  the  church  of  Christ  or  any  other  body  of  people. 

(1)  Matthew  13:33:  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto 
leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal, 
till  the  whole  was  leavened.''  In  this  case  we  understand  the 
Saviour  to  teach  that  His  religion  was  like  leaven  ;  that  His  doc- 
trine in  the  hearts  of  men  was  like  leaven  in  meal ;  that  it  works 
like  leaven.  Leaven  continues  its  work  until  the  entire  lump  has 
been  leavened ;  and  in  like  manner  the  religion  of  Christ  will 
permeate  the  whole  man  until  a  new  creature  shall  appear,  as 
unlike  the  ''former  man"  as  is  the  beautiful,  flaky  bread,  to  the 
unsightly,  lifeless  lump  of  dough  from  which  it  came.  Leaven 
works  quietly ;  so  does  religion  in  the  heart  of  men.  "The  wind 
listeth,  and  thou  nearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell 
whence  it  cometh  or  whither  it  goeth  ;  so  is  every  one  that  is 
born  of  the  Spirit."  We  may  observe  the  results  of  the  leaven, 
and  so  we  shall  know  those  who  have  been  born  of  the  Spirit. 
"Ye  shall  know  them  by  their  fruits." 

(2)  The  parable  of  the  hidden  treasure  and  goodly  pearl  are  of 
the  same  character.  They  serve  to  set  before  us  the  inestimable 
value  of  the  salvation  found  in  the  religion  of  Christ.     We  must 


PREHISTORIC.  33 

seek  it,  dig  deep  for  it.     It  costs  all  a  man  has,  and  is  worth  all 
it  costs.     See  Luke  14 :  33. 

(3)  The  following  passages  are  offered  in  proof  of  our  view  of 
the  subject:  "The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observation." 
Luke  17:  20.  The  Emphatic  Diaglott  renders  it,  "With  outward 
show."  That  is,  not  in  such  a  way  that  it  can  be  seen.  It  is  a 
power,  a  mighty  influence,  which  silently  works  wondrous  results. 
Again,  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."  Luke  17:21. 
This  was  said  of  disciples  who  knew  and  felt.  And  so  it  is. 
The  religion,  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  was  in  them ;  the  hope  of  sal- 
vation was  in  their  hearts  ;  they  had  His  Spirit  within  them.  The 
Pharisees,  to  whom  the  former  quotation  had  been  addressed, 
could  not  see  that  which  the  disciples  knew  and  felt.  Again, 
"For  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink,  but  righteousness 
and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  Rom.  14:  17.  "For  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  not  in  word,  but  in  power."     1  Cor.  4 :  20. 

II.  The  proposition  that  the  two  expressions  are  synonymous 
is  established  by  the  fact  that  the  evangelists  Matthew  and  Luke 
use  them  interchangeably.     See  Matthew  13  and  Luke  13. 

III.  The  parable  of  the  net  undoubtedly  refers  to  the  church. 
The  net  is  the  church  ;  the  fishermen  are  the  ministers  ;  the  gather- 
ing out  of  the  sea  is  the  gathering  into  the  visible  church  of  both 
good  and  evil;  the  landing  of  the  fish  and  the  selection  of  the 
good  is  the  day  of  judgment.  So,  also,  the  parable  of  the  sower 
and  others  have  reference  to  the  church. 

From  the  above  considerations  we  deduce  the  following  propo- 
sition:  That  the  church  of  Christ  is  a  principle  as  well  as  an 
organization.  As  a  principle  it  is  coequal  with  Christ;  has 
always  existed  and  will  endure  forever,  independent  of  all  other 
influences.  In  its  visible  form  it  is  dependent  upon  the  zeal, 
energy,  and  environments  of  those  who  constitute  the  body.  The 
gospel  of  Christ  is  the  embodiment  of  that  principle,  and  those 
who  hear  or  read  the  gospel,  and  imbibe  its  teachings,  become 
subjects  of  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom;  and  the  association  of  a 
number  of  such  sectaries  will  constitute  the  visible  body  or  king- 
dom of  Christ.     For  the  gospel  of  Christ  "is  the  power  of  God 


34  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth."  Rom.  i :  16.  The 
preaching  of  the  cross  "is  to  us  that  are  saved,  the  power  of  God." 
i  Cor.  i  :  18.  "In  every  nation  he  that  feareth  Him,  and  work- 
eth  righteousness,  is  accepted  with  Him."  Acts  10 :  35.  Wher- 
ever, therefore,  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  heard  or  read  and  believed 
and  obeyed,  there  the  church  of  God  is  established.  When  Christ 
was  personally  in  the  world,  He  taught  His  doctrine  in  person. 
He  also  personally  committed  it  to  His  chosen  apostles,  who  de- 
clared it  to  men  in  "demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power." 
Then  it  was  written  in  a  book,  by  inspired  men,  "That  we  might 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  and  that  believ- 
ing we  might  have  life  through  His  name."     John  20:  31. 

The  purpose  of  this  somewhat  lengthy  prelude  is  to  show  that 
"apostolic  succession"  is  not  essential  to  the  existence  or  establish- 
ment of  the  church  of  Christ.  Apostolic  succession  could  be  of 
no  valuable  utility.  It  might  even  be  a  hindrance.  Succession 
was  a  hindrance  to  the  Jews.  They  claimed  to  be  the  seed  of 
Abraham,  and  trusted  in  their  inheritance.  "Abraham  is  our 
father,"  they  said;  but  Jesus  told  them,  "If  ye  were  the  children 
of  Abraham,  ye  would  do  the  works  of  Abraham."  And  so 
He  would  say  to  those  who  claim  to  be  the  children  of  God,  "If  ye 
continue  in  My  word,  then  are  ye  My  disciples  indeed."  John 
8:  31.  Those  who  claim  apostolic  succession  have  been  hindered 
in  their  effort  to  serve  the  Lord  by  the  temptation  to  arrogance 
and  self -righteousness,  which  such  assumption  begets. 

It  is  possible  that  God  has  always  had  a  visible  church  in  some 
part  of  His  domain,  but  such  a  fact  is  not  requisite  to  its  present 
existence ;  nor  is  a  knowledge  of  its  perpetual  tangibility  pertinent 
to  an  organization  of  a  congregation  of  believers.  Such  was 
also  the  faith  of  our  forefathers,  as  we  shall  learn  further  on. 


CHAPTER   II 
ORGANIZATION    IN    GERMANY 

Finally,  after  much  solicitude  and  many  disappointments,  eight 
persons  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  consent  of  their  own  minds 
to  forsake  the  world  with  all  its  sinful  pleasures,  and  to  covenant 
with  God  to  remain  faithful  until  death,  took  upon  themselves  a 
vow  to  follow  Christ  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinances  of 
the  New  Testament.  And  thus  they  organized  themselves  into 
a  Christian  church. 

They  were  now  in  their  first  love,  and  full  of  zeal  for  God  and 
His  word.  Accordingly,  true  to  scriptural  precedent,  their  first 
step  was  into  Christian  baptism. 

It  appears  to  me  I  can  more  than  anticipate  the  solemnity  that 
pervaded  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  eight  consecrated  men  and 
women,  as  they  prepared  themselves  to  go  out  to  the  clear  waters 
of  the  river  Eider,  on  a  pleasant  morning  in  the  summer  of  the 
\-ear  1708.  It  must  have  been  near  Alexander  Mack's  mill,  for, 
as  he  was  a  miller  by  trade,  and  owned  a  mill,  he  would  know  just 
the  proper  spot  where  the  sacred  work  could  be  properly  attended 
to  without  danger  of  molestation.  There  was  all  the  gravity  of  a 
funeral  march,  as  the  procession  moved  along  the  unpaved  streets 
with  solemn  tread. 

Baptism  is  always  a  solemn  service ;  and  so  it  should  be,  for  it 
is  a  figure  of  death  and  burial,  and  that  the  death  of  one  whom 
most  people  worship  up  to  the  day  of  their  conversion.  Such  an 
one  the  pious  eight  went  out  to  bury  into  the  watery  grave.  But 
this  occasion  was  especially  solemn,  for  several  reasons:  First, 
no  one  had  ever  seen  the  ordinance  performed  in  the  manner  in 
which  they  expected  to  receive  it  this  morning.  Second,  the 
administrator,  whom  they  had  chosen  to  perform  the  work,  was 
inexperienced,  and  they  had  occasion  for  misgivings,  and  he  him- 
self of  fear  and  trepidation,  as  every  minister  of  the  gospel  who 
has  performed  the  solemn  ceremony  of  his  first  baptizing  can 
testify.     The  atmosphere  itself  was  freighted  with  solemnity. 

(35) 


36  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

They  had  fasted  and  prayed  and  sang  and  prayerfully  read  the 
Word  of  the  Lord ;  and  now  an  unction  from  heaven  prompted 
them  with  the  words  of  the  angel,  "Why  tarriest  thou?  Arise 
and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins."  True  piety  and  Chris- 
tion  devotion  invariably  beget  implicit  obedience. 

It  may  not  have  been  in  the  summer-time  nor  on  a  pleasant 
morning,  nor  even  near  Father  Mack's,  mill,  for  those  are  circum- 
stances of  which  they  left  no  record.  We  are  only  told  that  it 
was  in  the  quiet  of  an  early  morning  in  the  year  1708,  and  that 
the  place  was  at  the  river  Eider.  They  purposely  carefully  con- 
cealed the  exact  day  of  its  occurrence,  and  the  name  of  the  first 
baptizer.  The  latter  was  done  with  the  view  of  avoiding  all  occa- 
sion of  the  new  denomination  being  named  after  any  man.  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  from  the  success  with  which  they  have  kept 
the  secret,  that  there  were  no  spectators  present  outside  of  their 
own  families.  It  is  difficult  to  keep  a  secret  when  the  family 
alone  knows  it,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  conceal  it  if  the 
public  had  witnessed  the  work,  especially  since  some  of  the  peo- 
ple were  their  enemies.  All  we  do  know  positively  is  that  it  was 
not  Alexander  Mack  who  performed  the  first  baptism  among  the 
Tunkers,  and  that  it  may  have  been  George  Greby,  Lucas  Fetter, 
Andrew  Boney,  or  John  Kipping. 

Having  arrived  at  the  water's  edge  and  prayer  offered  and  a 
blessing  for  each  invoked  from  kind  heaven,  he  who  had  been 
selected  by  lot  took  Alexander  Mack  by  the  hand,  and  "both  went 
down  into  the  water,"  and  after  Mack  had  knelt  down  in  the 
water,  he  was  baptized,  face  forward,  "into  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  according  to  the 
commission  of  the  great  Commander. 

Then  returning  to  the  shore,  Alexander  Mack,  who  had  been 
chosen  as  their  minister,  took  him,  by  whom  he  had  just  been 
baptized,  and,  leading  him  into  the  stream,  baptized  him  in  the 
same  manner,  and  afterward  the  other  six  also. 

The  names  of  the  eight  persons  who  constituted  this  conse- 
crated body,  and  thus  became  the  charter  members  of  the  Tunker 
Church,  were  as   follows :    George   Greby  and    Lucas    Fetter,  of 


ORGANIZATION     IN     GERMANY.  37 

Hesse-Cassel ;  Alexander  Mack  and  Anna  Magareta  Mack,  of 
Schreisheim,  between  Manheim  and  Heidelberg;  Andrew  Boney 
and  Johanna  Boney,  of  Basel,  Switzerland;  John  Kipping  and 
Johanna  Kipping,  of  Wirtemberg.  Five  men  and  three  women 
constituted  the  body. 

After  they  had  changed  their  garments,  and  were  assembled 
for  devotion  and  confirmation,  we  are  told  they  realized  a  won- 
derful inward  blessing,  being  filled  with  great  joy  and  gladness. 
These  feelings  developed  an  intense  missionary  spirit,  which  was 
another  indication  of  primitive  Christianity,  for  thus  it  was  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles.  No  sooner  had  Andrew  found  Christ  for 
himself  than  he  immediately  found  his  brother  Simon  and  brought 
him  to  Jesus.     See  John  I  :  35-51. 

They  assembled  quite  frequently  for  worship  and  to  encourage 
each  other  by  bearing  testimony  to  the  truth  as  they  had  found  it 
in  Christ.  And  the  Lord  was  with  them  and  showered  His 
blessings  abundantly  upon  them.  Their  fervor  was  contagious, 
and  spread  through  the  community  from  town  to  town  and 
country  to  country.  In  the  space  of  seven  years,  from  1708  to 
1715,  a  large  congregation  was  established  at  Schwarzenau,  and 
members  were  scattered  throughout  many  part  of  the  Palatinate. 
Attempts  to  organize  the  scattered  members  resulted  in  perse- 
cution. They  then  resorted  to  Marionborn,  where  a  church  was 
organized,  and  for  a  time  prospered  greatly,  but  were  also  soon 
followed  by  persecution.  They  then  fled  to  Krefeld,  under  the 
king  of  Prussia,  where  they  enjoyed  freedom  of  conscience  for 
a  time  at  least. 

During  the  seven  years  of  prosperity  referred  to  above,  the 
Lord  called  into  the  church  a  number  of  laborers,  who  had  been 
distinguished  in  other  parts  of  His  vineyard.  Among  them  are 
named :  John  Henry  Kalkloeser,  of  Frankenthal ;  Christian  Libe 
and  Abraham  Duboy,  of  Ebstein ;  John  Naas  and  others,  from 
Norten  ;*  and  Peter  Becker,  of  Dilsheim. 

There  were  also  added  to  them  John  Henry  Traut  and  his 
brethren,  Henry  Holsapple  and  Stephen  Koch.     From  the  data 

*It  is  probable  that  this  phrase  should  be  translated  simply  from  the 
north. 


38  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

at  hand  we  infer  that  John  Henry  Traut  had  been  the  leader  of 
a  church,  or  at  least  a  class  of  brethren  in  the  community, 
since  we  are  told  that  he  and  his  brethren  were  added  to  the 
Schwarzenau  church.  The  most  of  these  located  at  Krefeld,  but 
John  Henry  Kalkloeser,  Abraham  Duboy,  George  Raiser  Gantz, 
of  Umstatt,  and  Michael  Eckerlin,  of  Strasburg,  settled  at 
Schwarzenau. 

While  on  the  one  hand  they  found  favor  with  God  and  men, 
because  of  their  upright  life  and  holy  conversation  and  devotion 
to  the  truth,  on  the  other  hand  they  met  with  persecutions  which 
they  drew  upon  themselves  by  the  same  virtuous  life  and  faith- 
fulness to  duty.  Some  had  their  property  confiscated,  others 
suffered  imprisonment,  varying  in  length  from  a  few  months  to 
several  years.  Christian  Libe  was  condemned  to  the  galleys,  and 
was  obliged  to  labor  at  the  rudder  and  mingle  with  wicked  and 
ungodly  men  for  a  term  of  several  years.  However,  through 
the  mercy  of  kind  providence,  they  were  finally  all  liberated,  and 
permitted  to  return  to  their  homes  with  a  good  conscience. 

It  certainly  does  appear  to  be  true  that  "persecutions,  though 
severe,  are  oft  in  mercy  sent,''  for  our  data  assures  us  that  the 
persecutions,  tribulations,  poverty  and  imprisonments  endured 
by  these  good  people  only  increased  their  happiness.  And  so  it 
should  be,  for  Jesus  said,  "Blessed  are  they  which  are  persecuted 
for  righteousness'  sake ;  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
"Blessed  are  ye,  when  men  shall  revile  you,  and  persecute  you,  and 
shall  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  you  falsely,  for  My  sake. 
Rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad ;  for  great  is  your  reward  in 
heaven ;  for  so  persecuted  they  the  prophets  which  were  before 
you."     Matt.  5:  10-12. 

The  next  trial  which  these  young  converts  encountered  was  of 
a  catechismal  nature.  Their  enemies  assailed  them  with  subtle 
and  cunningly-devised  questions,  hoping  thereby  to  divert  them 
from  the  truth  and  to  inveigle  them  with  disputations,  and  thereby 
to  bring  them  into  disfavor  with  the  authorities.  Forty  pointed 
questions,  prepared  by  educated  men  of  the  opposing  churches 
and  clergy,  were  presented  in  writing,  to  be  answered  by  the 
Tunker  brethren.     And  thev  certainly  manifested  both  wisdom 


ORGANIZATION     IN     GERMANY.  39 

and  sagacity  in  their  answers  to  the  critical  questions ;  and  some 
of  the  replies  are  almost  as  cunning  as  the  questions  themselves ; 
but  the  brethren  were  able  to  solve  all  the  knotty  problems  sub- 
mitted to  them,  and  to  such  satisfaction  to  the  church  that  the 
congregation  decided  to  publish  both  questions  and  answers  in 
pamphlet  form,  to  be  distributed  for  the  information  of  their 
friends  and  neighbors. 

In  this  particular  they  manifested  an  unusual  degree  of  zeal 
and  enterprise,  which  would  entitle  them  to  be  called  progressive. 
This  being  the  first  literary  work  of  these  people  it  is  entitled 
to  a  place  in  this  work.  With  that  view  it  has  been  carefully 
translated  from  the  German.  In  the  translation  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  give  a  faithful  rendition  of  the  sentiment  of  the  text  in 
English  that  will  compare  in  style  with  the  original,  without 
special  regard  to  exact  literal  translation.  It  affords  me  great 
satisfaction  to  be  able  to  present  this  production  of  the  fathers  of 
our  church  to  the  readers  of  this  volume.  The  text  used  was 
printed  at  Baltimore,  by  Samuel  Saur,  1799.  I  have  availed 
myself  of  a  former  translation  by  some  one  who  signed  himself, 
"A  Friend  to  Religion."  It  was  no  easy  task,  even  with  the 
assistance  of  the  above  translation,  to  present  a'  clear  and  positive 
interpretation  of  this  ancient  literary  work,  as  the  German  lan- 
guage has  undergone  several  revisions  in  the  last  two  hundred 
years.  In  the  introduction  to  the  book  was  obtained  much  of  the 
data  upon  which  is  founded  the  historical  part  of  the  Tunker 
Church.  The  preface  was  presumably  written  by  Alexander 
Mack,  Jr.  It  is  signed  "Abend  Mahl,"  the  first  letters  of  each 
word  of  which  form  the  initials  of  the  name  Alexander  Mack. 
The  last  sentence  is  very  ingeniously  woven  together  so  as  to 
make  sense  by  closing  with  the  significant  words,  "Abend  Mahl," 
meaning  evening  meal,  supper  of  the  Lamb,  or  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, all  of  which  are  endearing  terms  in  the  German  language, 
after  the  style  of  the  term  "the  Fatherland." 

The  introduction  is  dated  1774.  In  it  the  author  acknowledged 
having  gathered  the  facts  set  forth  therein  from  certain  papers 
by  Alexander  Mack,  Sr.,  and  Peter  Becker,  who  had  died  some 
time  previous. 


CHAPTER  III 

SCHIVARZENA  U,     GERMANY 

Apropos  to  the  occasion,  let  us  turn  our  eyes  to  the  town  from 
whence  sprung  this  denomination. 

Elder  D.  L.  Miller,  editor  of  Gospel  Messenger,  during  one  of 


BRIDGE    AT    SCHW7ARZENAU 

his  eastern  trips,  visited  the  town  of  Schwarzenau.  and  in  an 
article  published  in  his  paper,  he  describes  the  town  and  vicinity, 
from  which  we  compile  the  following : — 

The  German  village  of  Schwarzenau  is  one  of  those  quaint, 
old-fashioned  towns  that  seemed  quite  out  of  place  in  the  present. 

(40^ 


SCHWARZENAU,     GERMANY.  4 1 

It  belongs  to  the  past,  and  has  not  yet  awakened  to  the  impulse 
of  the  age,  which  has  taken  hold  upon  many  parts  of  Germany. 
Its  peace  and  quiet  have  never  been  disturbed  by  the  sound  of 
locomotive  or  cars.  For  more  than  three  centuries  it  has  nestled 
in  the  beautiful  valley  through  which,  like  a  thread  of  silver  in  a 
ribbon  of  green,  flows  the  historic  river  Eider. 

As  we  write,  we  are  seated  on  the  approach  to  the  foot-bridge, 
used  by  the  villagers  to  cross  over  the  stream.  On  either  side 
of  the  river  stand  the  quaint-looking  old  houses,  with  high  gables 
and  steep  roofs,  covered  with  straw  or  red  tile,  which  form  the 
ancient  village  of  Schwarzenau.  The  village  children,  in  peculiar 
dress,  stand  at  a  respectful  distance,  watching,  with  open-eyed 
wonder,  the  strangers  who  have  invaded  their  quiet  little  town. 
Even  the  elderly  people  stop  and  give  us  a  look  of  surprised 
inquiry,  and  collect  in  groups  to  discuss  the  strange  sight  of  a 
drosky  with  travelers  in  their  streets.  As  they  pass  by  they 
greet  us  cordially  with  a  "Guten  Tag"  ("Good-day").  Wife 
walks  along  the  meandering  stream,  the  water  of  which  is  as 
clear  as  crystal,  and  the  gently-sloping  banks  are  covered  with 
grass  to  the  very  edge  of  the  river.  A  well-kept  lawn  is  not  more 
evenly  mowed  than  the  grassy  slopes  of  the  Eider.  It  is  a  quiet 
October  day,  a  day  that  recalls  our  own  delightful  Indian  sum- 
mer weather  at  home.  The  mountains  on  either  side  of  the  valley 
are  covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  pine,  birch,  maple,  and  beech. 
The  touch  of  autumn  has  tinged  the  foliage  with  a  rich  coloring 
of  crimson,  red,  and  gold.  Up  the  stream,  a  hundred  yards  away, 
is  the  old,  five-arched  stone  bridge,  built  centuries  ago,  and  be- 
yond this  a  beautiful  stretch  of  green  meadow  land.  Sitting  here 
on  the  old  foot-bridge,  with  the  valley  for  a  mile  above  and  below 
Schwarzenau  in  full  view,  we  have  no  picture  in  mind  so  beau- 
tiful as  this. 

And  what  are  the  associations  connected  with  this  quiet,  old- 
fashioned  German  hamlet?  Here  at  Schwarzenau,  nearly  two 
hundred  years  ago,  the  dying  embers  of  primitive  Christianity 
were  rekindled,  and  the  Tunker  Church  was  organized.  Here,  on 
the  banks  of  this  beautiful  stream,  doubtless  not  far  from  where 


42  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

we  write,  the  Tunkers  assembled  in  the  year  1708,  and,  following 
the  example  of  Christ,  the}-  went  down  into  the  water  and  were 
baptized  "into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  into  the  name  of  the 
Son,  and  into  the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  from  here  went 
forth  that  little  band  of  persecuted  believers,  exiled  from  their 
"Vaterland,"  to  find  a  home  in  the  Quaker  Colony  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

We  have  been  brought  into  close  contact  with  the  homes  of  our 
brethren  in  Germany.  We  have  seen  where  they  lived  and 
labored,  and  we  are  much  impressed  with  the  thought  of  the  great 
sacrifices  they  made  when  they  left  these  beautiful  and  fertile  val- 
leys for  the  wilds  of  the  New  World.  We  are  made  to  admire, 
more  and  more,  their  courage  and  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  which 
led  them  to  abandon  home  and  the  associations  of  a  lifetime  for 
the  sake  of  primitive  Christianity.  How  they  must  have  suf- 
fered, and  what  hardships  they  must  have  endured,  all  for  the 
sake  of  religious  liberty!  How  often,  from  their  lonely  homes 
on  Indian  Creek  and  the  Wissahickon,  at  White  Oak,  at  Ephrata. 
and  at  Germantown,  surrounded  by  the  red  man  of  the  forest, 
must  they  have  looked  back  with  longing,  yearning  hearts  to  this 
beautiful  valley  of  the  Eider,  once  their  quiet,  peaceful,  happy 
home,  from  which  they  were  exiled,  never  to  return  again  ! 

How  often  must  they  have  battled  with  the  homesick  feeling 
that  will  come  to  all  who  love  home  and  leave  it !  How  often  in 
their  dreams  their  feet  pressed  again  the  grassy  slopes  of  the 
Eider,  they  drank  again  of  its  crystal  water,  and  breathed  again 
the  pure  mountain  air,  and  were  happy  again  in  their  old  homes, 
only  to  wake  to  find  it  all  a  dream  !  These  brave  men  and  women 
endured  much  so  that  they  might  serve  the  Lord  in  His  own 
appointed  way.  Long  ago  they  were  gathered  to  that  home 
where  the  weary  are  at  rest,  and  from  which  they  will  never  be 
exiled.  The  cause  they  love  so  well .  and  for  which  they  sacri- 
ficed so  much,  still  lives.  And  shall  it  not  continue  to  live?  Shall 
not  we,  who  to-day  stand  in  the  places  of  those  who  have  gone 
before,  hold  up  the  cause  of  apostolic  Christianity?  Shall  we 
not  be  true  to  the  cause  we  have  espoused,  and  for  which  our 


SCHWARZENAU.,     GERMANY.  43 

fathers  suffered  so  much,  yea,  for  which  Christ  died?  God  help 
us  to  be  faithful  even  unto  death. 

The  village  is  built  on  either  side  of  the  Eder,  and  contains 
about  600  souls.  On  the  outer  wall  of  one  of  the  principal 
houses  hangs  a  square  sign-board,  on  the  white  surface  of  which 
is  painted  in  large  black  letters  the  following  official  record  of 
the  place : — 

D.  Schwarzenau.      (Village  of  Schwarzenau.) 

Amt  Arfeld.      (District  of  Arfeld.) 

Kr.  Wittgenstein.      (Circuit  of  Wittgenstein.) 

Rg.  Bz.  Arnsberg.      (Government  Division  of  Arnsberg.) 

Landwehr-Battalions.     (Military  Battalions.) 

Bezirk  Meschede.      (Division  of  Meschede.) 

The  people  of  the  village  are  engaged  in  farming,  and  appeared 
to  be  well-to-do  and  happy.  Their  piety  asserts  itself  in  the  cus- 
tom of  engraving  passages  of  Scriptures  on  the  oak  sills  and 
panels  in  the  sides  and  gables  of  their  houses.  Not  only  at 
Schwarzenau,  but  at  other  villages  in  the  valleys  of  the  Eder.  we 
noticed  not  only  scriptural  passages  but  short  poems  and  various 
pious  mottoes  on  the  houses.  The  following  are  given  as  exam- 
ples.    We  copied  them  verbatim : — 

"Gott  segne  dieses  Haus" — God  bless  this  house. 

"  Und  einen  jeden  Stand  " — And  every  other  dwelling. 

"  Den  Burger  in  der  Stadt  " — Of  the  burgher  in  the  city. 

*'  Den  Bauer  auf  dem  Land  " — And  the  farmer  in  the  country. 

"  Gib  Segen  und  Gedeihen  " — Give  blessing  and  prosperity. 

"Auch  fuer  ein  jedes  Wesen  "—  Also  for  every  being. 

"  Besonders  noch  fuer  den  " — Specially  for  them. 

<l  Der  diesen  Spruch  thut  lesen  "— Who  shall  read  this  saying. 

At  another  place  we  read,  "Dieses  Haus  gehoert  Gott  und  mir" 
— This  house  belongs  to  God  and  me.  Here  the  owner  takes  the 
Lord  into  partnership  with  him.  A  lesson  may  be  learned  from 
this  simple  villager.  We  have  too  much  of  the  "I  own  this  prop- 
erty," and  not  enough  of  the  "It  belongs  to  the  Lord"  in  our  way 
of  looking  at  what  God  has  made  us  stewards  over.  Another 
example':  'Teh  getrau  Gott  in  aller  noth" — I  trust  God  in  all  dis- 


44 


HISTORY     OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


tress.     Much  of  the  carving  is  skilfully  done,  the  old  German 
letters  being  used,  and  the  capitals  finely  decorated. 

Not  far  from  Schwarzenau  is  the  town  of  Berleburg.  This 
was  a  noted  center  for  the  Tunkers  and  Pietists.  They  came 
here  from  many  parts  of  Germany.  Among  others  who  came 
was  a  printer  from  Strasburg,  named  John  Jacob  Hang.  He 
had  been  awakened,  and  came  to  Berleburg  to  enjoy  the  society 
of  kindred  spirits.  A  printing-press  was  set  up  for  these 
early  brethren  believed  in  the  use  of  printer's  ink,  and  Hang  took 
charge  of  the  office.  Here,  in  1726,  the  celebrated  Berleburg 
Bible,  with  notes,  was  published  in  three  volumes.  A  copy  of 
this  Bible  may  be  seen  in  the  Cassel  Library,  at  Mt.  Morris, 
Illinois.  The  printing-press  was  afterwards  sent  to  America, 
where,  in  1736,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  Elder  Christopher 
Saur,  and  he  used  it  to  print  the  first  religious  paper  and  the  first 
Bible.  ("1743)  that  were  printed  in  America. 


GERMAN     BAPTIST    CHURCH,     PHILADELPHIA,     PA. 


CHAPTER  IV 

MACK'S    BOOK 

It  will  be  discovered  in  reading  the  introduction  to  the  work 
that  a  second  history  of  the  organization  of  the  Tunker  Church  is 
narrated. 

PREFACE. 

God  is  omnipotent ;  and  to  the  disobedient  a  dreadful  God. 
This  was  clearly  evinced  in  the  punishment  of  our  first  parents, 
in  Paradise,  for  their  disobedience ;  and  afterwards  by  His 
marked  displeasures  with  His  people  Israel  for  disobeying  His 
law :  "He  that  despised  Moses'  law  died  without  mercy,  under 
two  or  three  witnesses."  A  punctilious  observance  of  the  law 
was  required,  therefore  He  enjoins  upon  His  people  by  His  serv- 
ant Moses  (Deut.  4:1,  2),  "Now  therefore  hearken,  O  Israel, 
unto  the  statutes  and  unto  the  judgments,  which  I  teach  you,  for 
to  do  them,  that  ye  may  live,  and  go  in  and  possess  the  land 
which  the  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  giveth  you.  Ye  shall  not 
add  unto  the  Word  which  I  command  you,  neither  shall  ye  dimin- 
ish aught  from  it,  that  ye  may  keep  the  commandments  of  the 
Lord  your  God  which  I  command  you."  Nothing  could  be  more 
positive  than  the  command,  nothing  more  certain  than  that  a 
scrupulous  attention  and  obedience  were  required  by  those  to 
whom  it  was  communicated.  No  less  evident  is  it  that  God 
requires  obedience  to  all  things  that  in  these  last  times  have  been 
revealed  and  communicated  to  all  the  world  by  His  Son,  to  them 
that  are  called  Christians  especially,  that  they  might  as  children  of 
the  same  family,  be  of  one  mind,  of  the  same  judgment,  and  culti- 
vate a  unity  of  sentiment,  following  the  example  of  the  good  Shep- 
herd, keeping  His  commands,  to  which  the  promise  of  eternal 
life  is  annexed  as  a  powerful  incentive  for  us  to  obey  in  all  things. 
For  this  cause  the  baptism  with  water,  that  Jesus  commanded 
to  be  performed  in  His  name,  as  well  as  all  other  ordinances  and 
commands  recorded  in  His  will,  merit  our  attention  and  obedience, 

(45) 


46  HISTORY     OF     THE     TINKERS. 

for  as  He  is,  who  has  ordained  them  under  the  new  covenant, 
so  are  we  to  consider  His  commands,  and  the  promise  which  He 
hath  annexed  thereto,  namely,  life  everlasting,  in  addition  to  all 
the  gifts  of  His  grace,  and  His  Holy  Spirit,  with  which  we  are 
privileged  in  this  world;  such,  therefore,  who  are  rebellious  and 
disobedient  to  His  divine  commands,  have  wrath  and  indignation 
to  fear,  as  St.  Paul  says  in  his  second  epistle  to  the  Thessalonians, 
that  the  Son  of  God  "shall  come  in  naming  fire,  taking  vengeance 
on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  obey  not  the  gospel."  A  similar 
denunciation  we  find  in  Rev.  22:  18,  19,  "If  any  man  shall  take 
away  from  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book  [by  which  the 
ordinances  of  Christ  are  intended]  God  shall  take  away  his  name 
out  of  the  book  of  life  ;  and  if  any  man  shall  add  unto  these  things, 
God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues  that  are  written  in  this 
book."  Our  object  in  publishing  this  book  is  to  endeavor  to 
bring  these  things  to  mind,  in  order  that  he  who  reads  may  under- 
stand what  the  Lord  requires  of  him,  and  be  obedient  in  all  things, 
that  he  may  go  in  and  possess  the  land ;  that  the  abuses  which 
have  crept  into  the  Christian  church  may  be  studiously  avoided 
by  a  strict  conformity  in  all  things  to  the  Word  of  God. 

It  is  presented  in  a  form  of  a  conversation  of  questions  and 
answers  between  father  and  son,  who  were  journeying  together 
in  the  Christian  pilgrimage. 

INTRODUCTION. 

In  order. to  profit  by  the  perusal  of  a  treatise  and  apprehend 
the  design  thereof,  great  advantages  will  be  derived  by  laying 
aside  all  prejudice,  and  with  an  impartial  and  unbiased  mind  and 
a  love  of  the  truth  investigate  the  subject  with  the  evidence 
therein  advanced.  Then,  after  having  proven  all  things  by  the 
standard  of  truth,  hold  fast  that  which  is  good.  AVe  should  be 
guided  in  all  such  investigations  by  the  grace  and  mercy  of  our 
God,  weighing  all  things  in  the  balances  of  the  sanctuary, — the 
testimony  of  our  Lord  from  the  scriptures  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets. 

The  necessity  of  such  a  frame  of  mind  will  appear  the  more 


mack's  book.  47 

indispensable  when  we  consider  the  danger  arising  from  a  bias  of 
mind  in  the  examination  of    the  best  production.      In    suffering 
ourselves  to  be  carried  away  by  the  current  of  popular  prejudice 
our  judgment  becomes  darkened,  and  the  true  spirit  of  examina- 
tion dethroned.     The  consequences  will  be  uncertainty  and  con- 
fusion, bringing  about  that  state  of    mind    compared    to  night, 
wherein  if  a  man  walk  he  stumbles.     To  a  person  in  this  con- 
dition Christ  Himself  and  His  glorious  gospel  become  a  subject 
of  cavil,  "a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a  rock  of  offense."     If  there 
be  any  who  by  a  spirit  of  disputation  would  bring  themselves  into 
notice,  by  caviling  at  this  well-meant  production,  they  are  cau- 
tioned in  a  friendly  manner,  lest  they  should  be  found  engaging 
in  a  contest  with  their  own  conscience,   which  is   an  impartial 
judge,  and  will  plead  for  the  truth.     It  is  also  sufficiently  power- 
ful in  the  breast  of  every  one  to  command  an  audience  sooner  or 
later.     To  him,  therefore,  who  is  an  impartial  reader,  the  follow- 
ing remarks  will  serve  as  a  satis factorv  introduction  to  this  work. 
It  pleased  God  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century   (17;   to 
cause  His  saving  grace  to  be  experienced,  and  the  voice  of  His 
mercy  to  be  heard  by  many,  awakening  them  to  repentance  and 
arousing  them  from  the  sleep  of  sin  and  death  to  seek  salvation 
in  Christ  their  Saviour.     They  felt  the  general  departure  from 
the  general  principles  of  Christianity,  and  were  devoutly  inclined 
to  bear  testimony  to  the  truth,  in  word  and  practise.     Accord- 
ingly private  meetings  were  established  for  the  edification  and 
building  up  of  the  newly-awakened  souls.     The  laudable  under- 
taking was,  however,   soon  vigorously  opposed  by  jealous   and 
embittered  ecclesiastics.     These  influenced  the  civil  powers,  and 
instituted  a  series  of  persecution  in  Switzerland,  Wirtenberg,  in 
the  Palatinate,  at  Hesse-Cassel,  and  at  other  places  where  the 
faithful  were  cast  out  as  exiles.     But  the  Lord  provided  a  place 
of  refuge  for    them  in  Witgenstein,  under    the    protection  of  a 
prince,  eminent  for  his  moderation.     Here  the  awakening  power 
of   God   had   previously   found   its   way   to  the   hearts   of   some 
honorable  ladies  of  the  court.     At  a  place  called  Schwarzenau, 
in  the   vicinity   of   Berlenburg,   liberty   of   conscience   had   been 


48  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

graciously  afforded  to  the  refugees.  Witgenstein,  though  a  rough 
and  barren  country,  became  a  place  of  refuge  to  the  awakened, 
and  also  of  considerable  reputation,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  for  the  exiles,  who  now  generally  resorted  to  Schwarzenau. 

Of  the  number  who  collected  here  there  were  those  of  different 
opinions,  habits,  and  manners.  They  were  all  denominated  Piet- 
ists, but  they  considered  each  other  as  brethren.  They  soon  met 
with  trouble  among  themselves.  They  found  it  difficult  in  their 
unorganized  state  to  put  into  practise  the  salutary  counsel  of  our 
Lord,  "If  thy  brother  trespass  against  thee,  go  and  tell  him  his 
fault  between  thee  and  him  alone,"  there  being  no  church  to  report 
to.  At  this  point  some  returned  to  the  religion  from  whence 
they  had  come.  They  could  not  endure  the  discipline  of  the  cross. 
Others  fostered  a  spirit  of  liberalism  more  to  be  dreaded  in  its 
consequences  than  their  former  depravity.  There  were  some, 
however,  who,  notwithstanding  this  state  of  perturbation,  were 
sincerely  desirous  of  finding  the  footsteps  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tianity and  following  the  example  of  the  Saviour,  being  fully  con- 
vinced of  the  necessity  of  faith  and  obedience  in  order  to  obtain 
salvation.  Their  solicitude  paved  the  way  to  the  discovery  of  the 
importance  of  the  ordinance  of  water  baptism,  which  they 
regarded  as  the  door  to  the  church  toward  which  they  had  such  a 
longing  desire.  The  subject  of  baptism  among  the  Pietists  was 
variously  understood,  which  was  greatly  deplored  by  all  lovers  of 
the  truth. 

In  the  year  1708,  eight  persons  entered  into  a  covenant  with 
each  other,  by  the  help  of  God  to  endeavor  to  attain  to  the  answer 
of  a  good  conscience  by  rendering  obedience  to  all  the  commands 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  following  Him  as  their  good  shepherd 
and  leader  through  good  and  evil  report.  These  eight  persons 
were  as  follows,  namely,  five  brethren  and  three  sisters :  The 
brethren  were  George  Greby,  of  Hesse-Cassel,  the  first ;  Lucas 
Fetter,  also  from  the  Hessian  land,  the  second;  the  third  was 
Alexander  Mack,  from  the  Palatinate  of  Schreishim,  between 
Manheim  and  Heidelburg ;  the  fourth  was  Andreas  Boney,  from 
Basel,  in  Switzerland ;  the  fifth  was  John  Kipping,  from  Bareit, 


MACK  S    BOOK.  49 

in  the  province  of  Wirtemberg;  the  three  sisters  were  Johanna 
Boney,  the  first ;  Anna  Margaretta  Mack,  the  second,  and  Johanna 
Kipping,  the  third. 

These  eight  persons  convenanted  with  each  other  as  brethren 
and  sisters  under  the  bond  of  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  labor 
together  in  the  unity  of  the  faith  as  a  church. 

By  consulting  history  they  found  that  the  primitive  Christians 
in  the  first  and  second  centuries  were  uniformly  planted  into  the 
likeness  of  His  death  by  baptism  in  water  by  a  threefold  immer- 
sion. But  they  were  unwilling  to  rest  their  faith  upon  the  author- 
ity of  history  alone.  They  searched  the  New  Testament  Scrip- 
tures, and  found  implicit  testimony  to  the  same.  Thereupon  they 
became  desirous  of  practising  the  ordinance,  and  securing  the 
benefit  of  a  means  of  grace  so  strongly  recommended  by  the 
example  of  our  Lord,  and  so  emphatically  enjoined  by  His  writ- 
ten precepts ;  they  believed  that  it  became  them  thus  to  fulfil  all 
righteousness. 

Then  the  question  arose  who  should  perform  this  outward 
service  for  them.  One  of  their  number  who  had  labored  in  word 
and  doctrine  in  different  parts  of  Germany  had  learned  the 
views  of  the  Baptist  brethren  generally.  He  found  that  the  large 
majority  maintained  that  immersion  was  the  proper  mode  of  bap- 
tism when  it  is  received  in  love  to  Christ,  but  believed  that 
sprinkling  might  also  answer  the  purpose  if  everything  else  con- 
nected therewith  was  right  and  proper. 

However,  their  consciences  could  not  be  reconciled  with  such 
reasoning.  They  requested  their  minister,  who  had  acted  as  their 
leader,  to  baptize  them  by  immersion  according  to  the  example  of 
the  first  and  best  Christians.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  he  regarded 
himself  as  being  yet  unbaptized  he  requested  to  be  first  baptized 
by  them  before  he  would  administer  the  ordinance  to  others. 
Thereupon  they  took  counsel  and  determined  to  resort  to  fasting 
and  prayer  in  order  to  obtain  help  and  divine  direction.  They  all 
had  the  same  desire  simply  to  do  the  will  of  the  Lord.  The 
promise  of  the  Saviour  came  to  them  in  great  power,  "Where  two 
or  three  are  gathered  together  in  My  name,  there  am  I  in  the 


50  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

midst  of  them."  In  confidence  in  the  promises  of  the  Saviour, 
they  cast  lots  by  solemn  prayer  and  fasting,  and  submitted  the 
question  to  the  Lord,  Which  one  of  the  four  brethren  should  bap- 
tize the  one  who  so  earnestly  desired  to  be  baptized  by  the  church 
of  Christ?  They  had  previously  agreed  among  themselves  that 
no  one  should  reveal  who  was  the  first  baptizer  among  them. 
This  they  did  to  avoid  the  occasion  of  naming  them  after  any 
man,  which  custom  the  apostle  Paul  reproves  in  the  Corinthian 
church. 

Everything  having  been  set  in  order,  those  eight  persons 
resorted  to  the  river  Eider,  in  the  quiet  of  the  early  morning, 
where  the  brother  on  whom  the  lot  had  fallen,  baptized  the  brother 
who  desired  to  be  baptized  by  the  church  of  Christ.  After  he  was 
baptized,  then  he  in  turn  baptized  the  one  by  whom  he  had  been 
baptized ;  and  then  also  the  other  three  brethren  and  three  sisters. 
And  so  the  eight  persons  were  all  baptized  at  an  early  morning 
hour. 

As  they  had  all  retired  from  the  water,  and  had  changed  their 
clothing,  they  were  filled  with  great  joy.  Then  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  "Be  fruitful  and  multiply,"  with  its  spiritual  application, 
was  impressed  upon  their  minds  with  unusual  power.  This 
occurred  in  the  year  1708,  as  mentioned  above.  But  of  month 
or  day  they  have  left  no  record. 

From  that  time  onward  these  eight  persons  grew  more  and 
more  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  and  bore  testimony  to  their  faith 
and  experience  in  the  public  assembly.  And  the  Lord  bestowed 
upon  them  His  special  blessings  in  an  abundant  manner. 
Through  these  means  a  number  of  believers  were  added  to  them, 
and  during  the  first  seven  years  of  their  history,  in  the  year  171 5, 
a  large  congregation  had  assembled  at  Schwarzenau,  and  churches 
were  organized  in  different  parts  of  the  Palatinate,  especially  at 
Marienborn,  to  which  many  of  the  converts  attached  themselves 
because  of  persecution  which  was  meted  out  to  them  in  other 
portions  of  the  country.  This  large  accession  drew  public  atten- 
tion to  them,  and  caused  them  to  be  persecuted  at  Marienborn 


MACKS     BOOK.  5 1 

also.  Then  they  fled  to  Krefeld,  under  the  king  of  Prussia, 
where  they  found  freedom  of  conscience. 

The  Lord  also  called  a  number  of  laborers  into  His  vineyard. 
Among  these  were  John  Henry  Kalkloeser,  from  Krankenthal ; 
Christian  Libe  and  Abraham  Duboy,  from  Ebstein;  John  Naas 
and  others,  from  the  north ;  Peter  Becker,  from  Dillsheim ;  John 
Henry  Traut,  and  his  brethren,  Henry  Holsappel  and  Stephen 
Koch,  also  associated  themselves  with  them.  The  most  of  these 
came  to  Krefeld.  John  Henry  Kalkloeser  and  Abraham  Duboy, 
however,  went  to  Schwarzenau ;  so  did  also  George  Balser  Ganz, 
from  Umstatt,  and  Michael  Eckerlin,  from  Strasburg. 

While  they  received  the  blessings  of  God  on  the  one  hand,  they 
encountered  the  enmity  of  men  on  the  other  hand.  The  enemies 
of  truth  arose  against  them,  and  persecutions  were  encountered 
in  different  places  for  the  word  of  God's  sake.  Some  were  robbed 
of  their  property,  which  they  appeared  to  submit  to  joyfully. 
Others  endured  bonds  and  imprisonment,  some  for  a  few  weeks 
only,  but  others  for  several  years.  Christian  Libe  was  compelled 
to  serve  at  the  galleys  on  board  of  one  of  the  ships,  being  coupled 
with  ungodly  miscreants,  to  work  at  the  rudder.  However, 
through  the  mercy  of  God,  all  finally  regained  their  liberty,  and 
returned  to  their  homes   with   good   conscience. 

The  fact  that  their  persecutions,  poverty,  tribulations,  and  im- 
prisonment appeared  to  make  them  all  the  more  joyful,  attracted 
the  attention  of  certain  men  of  great  learning.  These  endeav- 
ored to  tempt  the  brethren  with  pointed  disputations  and  subtle 
questions.  Forty  questions  were  submitted  to  them  with  the 
request  that  they  be  answered.  These  questions  with  their 
answers  were  published  in  tract  form  by  the  church  for  the 
instruction  of  the  reader.  At  the  same  time  it  was  thought 
proper  by  the  church  at  Schwarzenau  to  publish  this  small  book, 
for  the  instruction  of  the  uninformed,  in  which  the  unprejudiced 
reader,  with  the  assistance  of  this  introduction,  may  learn  the 
reasons  for  issuing  this  publication. 

Afterwards,  when  those  who  were  then  engaged  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord  in  the  simplicity  of  their  minds,  had  fallen  asleep 


52  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

and  gone  to  their  reward,  the  church  in  America  manifested  a 
desire  to  have  the  same  reprinted,  for  the  instruction  of  the  young 
people,  especially ;  and  also  to  glorify  God,  who  had  so  wonder- 
fully protected  His  people  in  these  perilous  times.  To  the  same 
all-wise  and  merciful  God,  therefore,  is  this  simple  testimony  to 
His  truth  presented,  and  commended  to  His  protecting  power. 
To  the  friendly  reader  we  wish  a  devout,  truth-loving  state  of 
mind,  in  which  an  assurance  can  be  had  that  we  belong  to  the 
fold  of  Christ.  Blessed  is  the  man  who  will  yield  implicit  obedi- 
ence to  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  will  bring  to  his  mind  everything 
that  Christ  taught  in  His  everlasting  Word. 

"Now  unto  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world,  be  honor,  and  praise,  and  adoration,  in  the  church  of  the 
First-born,  in  heaven  and  upon  earth,  in  the  communion  of  the 
Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit.     Amen." 

N.  B. — This  simple  statement  was  compiled  partly  from 
papers  left  by  Alexander  Mack,  Sr.,  and  Peter  Becker,  and 
partly  information  received  from  the  lips  of  my  parents  and 
other  brethren,  as  they  related  it  to  me  for  our  comfort  and 
encouragement.  To  which  the  author  testifies  this  20th  day  of 
January,  1774;  who  accounts  himself  an  invited  fellow-guest  to 
the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  and  to  the  glorious 

Abend-Mahl. 

QUESTIONS   AND   ANSWERS. 

Beloved  Friends  and  Fellow-Pilgrims:  It  is  desired  to  learn 
more  in  regard  to  your  new  denomination  and  the  baptism  which 
you  practise,  inasmuch  as  disputation  has  obtained  in  different 
places  on  account  of  the  uncertainty  existing  as  to  your  doctrine. 
In  order,  therefore,  to  have  your  views  or  principles  properly 
set  forth  and  understood,  and  to  remove  all  doubts  and  uncertain- 
ties, it  has  been  deemed  prudent  to  present  to  you  the  following 
questions,  to  which  it  is  desired  that  you  make  plain  and  faithful 
answers : — 

Response. — Beloved  friends:  Inasmuch  as  you  have  expressed 


MACKS    BOOK.  53 

a  desire  to  know  our  doctrine,  and  as  the  apostle  Peter  instructs 
believers  to  "be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to  every  man 
that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  you  with  meek- 
ness and  fear,"  we  could  not  avoid  to  offer  you  our  frank  and 
faithful  answers  to  the  questions  presented,  and  submit  the  same 
for  your  consideration,  according  to  the  light  of  the  gospel. 

Question  i. — Do  you  not  claim  that  for  over  one  thousand 
years  there  had  been  no  true  baptism  in  the  world,  and,  conse- 
quently, not  a  true  church  on  the  earth  ? 

Answer. — We  believe  and  maintain  that  God  has  always  had 
His  church  and  consequently  that  which  also  observed  the  true 
form  of  baptism.  It  was,  however,  not  always  manifest  to 
unbelievers,  and  frequently  it  existed  in  a  faint,  glimmering  one ; 
nevertheless,  the  gates  of  hell  could  never  entirely  prevail  against 
it.  It  is  also  clear  from  history  that  the  Lord  has  always  pro- 
tected His  ordinances  as  a  testimony  to  unbelievers. 

Question  2. — Could  the  church  of  Christ  not  exist  at  any  time 
and  in  any  manner,  even  in  the  faintest  glimmerings,  without 
observing  the  original  outward  form  of  baptism,  as  did  the  Jew- 
ish church  for  a  short  period  while  dwelling  in  the  wilderness, 
without  observing  circumcision  ?     Joshua  5  :  5-7. 

Answer. — The  church  of  Christ  having  been  established  by  the 
true  Master-builder,  Jesus  Christ,  it  can  only  be  maintained  by 
practicing  the  true  mode  of  baptism,  as  instituted  by  Christ  Him- 
self, taught  and  practiced  by  the  apostles  themselves,  and  con- 
firmed by  signs  and  wonders  from  heaven.  It  must,  therefore, 
be  incontrovertible  that  at  that  time  no  church  of  Christ  could 
exist  without  the  ordinance  of  baptism  as  commanded  by  the 
true  Author.  That,  however,  there  were  individuals  who  lived 
in  retirement  and  were  drawn  into  the  church,  we  will  not  deny ; 
but  whether  they  confessed  and  obeyed  Christ  publicly,  or  whether 
they  cared  more  for  the  honor  of  the  world  than  they  did  for  the 
glory  of  Christ,  we  need  not  say.  As  concerns  the  Israelitish 
church,  it  is  evident  that  while  they  were  in  the  wilderness,  the 
children  were  obliged  to  bear  the  reproach  of  the  Egyptians  and 
the  sins  of  their  fathers.     As  soon,  however,  as  they  entered  the 


5/).  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

promised  land,  and  before  they  captured  the  first  town,  Jericho, 
they  were  required  to  be  circumcised.  The  Lord  said  unto 
Joshua,  "This  day  have  I  rolled  away  the  reproach  of  Egypt  from 
off  you."  Joshua  5  :  9.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  were  they  per- 
mitted to  keep  the  passover.  This  is  symbolic  unto  us  as  long  as 
we  live  in  the  wilderness  of  sin.  Even  if  we  should  have  left  the 
land  of  Egypt,  with  its  flagrant,  outrageous  sins,  through  the 
mighty  hand  of  God,  we  could  still  not  enter  the  house  of  the  Lord 
and  enjoy  the  fellowship  of  Christ  and  His  people  and  partake  of 
the  communion.  Christ  requires  that  we  should  first  be  baptized, 
and  to  this  all  faithful  believers  will  submit,  although  every  man 
must  have  an  answer  of  a  good  conscience  within  himself.  If 
only  men  would  more  faithfully  obey  the  inward  promptings. 

Quest  ion  j. — Did  the  church  entirely  cease  to  exist  upon  earth 
at  such  time  when  the  ordinance  of  baptism  was  not  practised 
according  to  the  original  institution  ? 

Answer. — If  baptism  as  first  instituted  had  been  entirely  unob- 
served, then  certainly  the  church  of  Christ  had  ceased  to  exist, 
liven  if  a  few  isolated  might  be  found,  here  and  there,  in  the  great 
bulk  of  humanity,  they  still  could  not  be  called  the  church  ;  but 
since  we  believe,  and  can  prove  by  church  history,  that  the  original 
mode  of  baptism  had  never  been  entirely  lost  sight  of,  the  church, 
of  Christ  had  never  ceased  to  exist,  however  small  it  may  have 
been. 

Question  4. — How  do  you  reconcile  such  views  with  the  prom- 
ises of  Christ  (Matt.  16:  18),  "The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  it"  (the  church),  and  chapter  28:  20,  "And,  lo,  I  am 
with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world"? 

Answer. — This  question  has  already  been  answered,  because 
we  believe  that  "the  gates  of  hell"  never  have  prevailed  against 
the  church  of  Christ,  but  it  has  stood  and  will  stand  to  the  end 
of  the  world. 

Question  5. — How  do  you  regard  those  undeniable  witnesses 
to  the  truth,  who,  from  century  to  century,  even  to  the  present 
lime,  have  lived  devout  and  exemplary  lives?'  Are  they  not  to 
lie  regarded  as  communicants  of  the  body  of  Christ  and  partakers 
of  His  spiritual  nature? 


MACKS    BOOK.  55 

Answer. — Christ  says  (Matt,  y.20),  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  them."  Inasmuch  as  we  believe  that  writings  of  fine  books 
and  even  prophesying  are  not  fruits  of  a  Christian  life,  whereby 
men  can  be  recognized,  therefore,  by  such  marks  alone  we  can 
not  accept  such  as  Christians ;  and  since  we  did  not  know  those 
people  during  their  lifetime  we  can  not  judge  them,  but  will 
leave  them  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord  ;  but  all  their  writing  and 
prophecy  can  not  make  us  doubt  the  gospel  of  Christ.  We  can 
not,  however,  regard  them  as  constituting  the  church  of  Christ, 
simply  because  of  their  prophesying,  if  they  did  not  obey  the 
teachings  of  Christ  in  baptism  and  the  other  ordinances  as  He 
delivered  them. 

Question  6. — Are  you  not  of  the  opinion  that  the  long-lost 
ceremony  of  baptism  must  be  re-established  in  every  particular  ? 
And  for  what  reason?  Or  is  it  not  more  likely  that  Almighty 
God  suffered  the  decline  of  this  non-essential  ceremony,  as  He 
did  in  the  case  of  circumcision  under  the  old  covenant  which 
could  not  make  the  comers  thereunto  perfect,  and  establish  the 
new  economy  and  family  of  purely  spiritual  children,  as  all  the 
prophecies  and  promises  indicate  ? 

Answer. — We  believe,  with  the  apostle,  that  as  long  as  there 
was  no  change  in  the  priesthood  there  could  be  no  change  in  the 
law ;  for  as  long  as  the  Levitical  priesthood  continued,  so  long 
the  law  remained,  and  circumcision  continued  in  force,  and  could 
not  be  changed  without  incurring  the  displeasure  and  punish- 
ment of  God ;  but  when  Christ  came,  who  is  the  everlasting  Priest 
and  Son  of  God,  He  established  a  spiritual  law,  and  removed  the 
first  as  being  imperfect,  weak,  and  could  not  make  the  comers 
thereunto  perfect,  and  opened  the  way  into  the  holiest  of  holies, 
confirming  His  will  with  His  blood.  Hence,  we  believe  that 
though  an  angel  from  heaven  should  bring  any  other  gospel,  he 
would  meet  the  curse  of  God.  Gal.  1  i  8.  We  believe,  therefore, 
that  the  doctrine  of  Christ  must  be  obeyed  until  He  shall  return 
again,  "revealed  from  heaven  with  His  mighty  angels,  in  flaming 
fire  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  that  obey 
not  the  gospel  of  our   Lord   Jesus   Christ."     2   Thess.    1  : 7,   8. 


56  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

Therefore,  the  gospel  of  Christ  must,  in  these  latter  days,  be 
implicitly  obeyed  by  all  believers,  but  to  the  unbelieving  there  is 
no  commandment. 

Question  /. — Whether  they  did  not  believe  and  confess  that  in 
all  cases,  whether  under  the  reestablished  or  under  the  first  and 
unchanged  application  of  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  an  unmis- 
takable, direct  call  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  essential  and  required  by 
the  Scriptures  and  according  to  the  great  church  reformations. 

Answer. — We  do,  indeed,  believe  that  in  order  to  carry  out  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  a  direct  call  and  wooing  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
is  required.  That  this  calling  must  be  accompanied  by  witnesses 
of  great  wonders  before  men  we  will  not  determine.  It  will  be 
sufficient  if  the  call  be  from  God,  whether  men  believe  it  or  not. 
In  such  cases  we  must  submit  to  the  conscience  of  each  individual. 

Question  8. — Can  any  of  you  venture  to  declare  before  God, 
expecting  to  answer  at  the  day  of  judgment,  that  he  has  received 
such  a  direct  call  and  such  reestablished  scriptural  baptism,  which 
had  not  been  practiced  since  the  time  of  the  apostles  and  the 
first  Christians,  and  thereby  have  entered  the  reestablished  church 
of  God? 

Answer. — When  the  Pharisees  sent  from  Jerusalem,  to  inquire 
of  John  whether  .he  was  Christ,  or  the  prophet,  because  he  bap- 
tized, he  answered:  "I  baptize  with  water,  but  there  standeth 
One  among  you  whom  ye  know  not,  He  shall  baptize  you  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire."  So  we  say  also,  in  all  simplicity,  we 
baptize  in  water  upon  faith  in  Christ,  who  in  these  days  speaks  to 
the  hearts  of  men.  Oh,  that  men  might  know  Him  and  follow 
Him !  Then  He  would  be  all  in  all.  No  man,  however,  shall 
assume  to  himself  the  prerogative  of  establishing  a  pure  church, 
and  to  institute  a  sanctifying  water  baptism,  or  even  to  claim 
having  been  sent  from  God  to  do  so.  That  honor  he  should 
attribute  to  God  alone.  And  even  should  the  Lord  choose  some 
men  as  special  instruments  in  accomplishing  His  work,  we  can 
still  use  them  only  as  witnesses,  and  know  whether  they  are  sent 
of  God  by  their  works,  as  John  says,  "He  whom  God  hath  sent 
speaketh  the  words  of  God."     John  3  :  34. 


MACK  S    BOOK.  57 

Question  p. — In  what  does  such  direct  call  consist,  and  how- 
does  it  operate  on  the  hearts  of  those  among  the  sects,  as  well  as 
those  without,  in  convicting  and  convincing  them  and  bringing 
them  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  ? 

Anszver. — The  direct  call  consists  in  this  that  it  instils  into  the 
hearts  of  men  a  knowledge  of  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  such  person  does  not  concern  himself  as  to  whether  men 
believe  or  do  not  believe  whether  he  is  being  so  wrought  upon, 
as  Christ  Himself  taught,  "Murmur  not  among  yourselves.  No 
man  cometh  unto  Me  except  the  Father  draw  him."  John 
6 :  43,  44.  And  so  it  is  still ;  no  man  can  come  to  or  accept  the 
gospel  of  Christ  unless  he  be  drawn  by  the  Father ;  and  he  who 
will  obey  the  drawings  of  the  Father  can  have  no  difficulty  to  find 
the  chosen  people  of  God. 

Question  10. — Is  it  not  reasonable  to  conclude  that  if  this  work 
is  of  God,  and  that  you  have  received  such  a  direct  call  from 
God,  thousands  of  persons  would  volunteer  and  be  added  to  the 
number,  according  to  the  example  of  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when 
the  Spirit  and  power  of  Christ  operated  on  the  hearts  through  the 
services  of  the  apostles  ? 

Answer. — Christ  said  to  His  own  people,  alluding  especially  to 
the  present  time,  "Take  heed  that  no  man  deceive  you."  He  does 
not  say  that  in  these  troublesome  days  in  which  the  hearts  of  men 
have  waxed  cold,  thousands  would  flock  to  His  gospel.  Even 
the  faithful  are  not  too  ready  to  follow  their  Master  when  they 
must  leave  all  to  follow  Him  acceptably.  Christ  had  much  more 
to  say  of  the  great  tribulation  of  the  present  time,  and  of  the 
abomination  and  desolation  that  should  come  to  pass.  It  is  also 
said  that  they  shall  come  to  the  mountain,  which  signifies  "Mount 
Sion,  and  unto  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem." 
Heb.  12 :  22,  23.  Whereunto  all  the  truly  faithful  have  always 
fled  for  refuge,  and  many  of  the  saints  even  were  unable  to  per- 
suade their  wives  and  children  to  accompany  them.  So  it  was 
in  the  case  of  faithful  Lot,  who,  called  by  the  Lord,  was  led  by  the 
hand  of  an  angel  to  flee  the  wrath  to  come.  His  friends  ridiculed 
him,  and  he  was  compelled  to  leave  his  wife  upon  the  plain. 


58  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Wherefore,  Christ  warned  His  disciples  with  the  words,  "Remem- 
ber Lot's  wife."     Luke  17:  32. 

Question  11. —  Is  water  baptism  so  essential  that  nobody  abso- 
lutely can  be  saved  without  it,  no  matter  how  strong  his  faith  may 
be,  or  how  pure  and  holy  and  irreproachable  his  life  ? 

Answer. — We  believe  that  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
believers  only  have  the  promise  of  salvation.  And  we  may  learn 
the  mind  and  disposition  of  believers  by  the  example  of  faithful 
Abraham,  the  father  of  all  believers.  He  was  obedient  in  all 
things,  and  received  the  promise  on  account  of  his  faith,  that 
was  living  faith,  which  wrought  obedience.  So  we  believe  that 
if  a  person  lives  holy  and  irreproachably,  his  life  being  actuated 
through  faith  in  Christ,  such  faith  will  work  obedience  to  bap- 
tism. It  would  not  be  nearly  so  severe  a  trial  as  that  of  Abra- 
ham's offering  up  his  son.  If,  however,  a  person  is  still  disposed 
to  dispute  with  God,  by  saying,  "What  good  can  water  do 
me  ?"  his  holy  life  •  and  pretended  piety  is  nothing-  but  self- 
righteousness,  which  he  seeks  to  establish  as  did  the  Jews,  of 
which  St.  Paul  writes  in  Romans  10.  And  to  such  righteousness 
there  is  no  salvation  promised.  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law.  and 
whoso  believeth  on  Him  is  justified  ;  and  faith  in  Christ  worketh 
obedience  to  all  His  commandments. 

Question  12. — Does  not  the  assertion  of  Mark  16:  16,  establish 
the  contrary,  in  which  Christ  so  emphatically  declared.  "He  that 
believeth  not,"  and  is  not  baptized,  "shall  be  damned"? 

Answer. — A  person  is  not  saved  because  of  his  faith  in  Christ, 
through  whom  everlasting  life  is  promised.  John  3:15-18. 
Why  should  a  believer  not  be  willing  to  obey  Him  on  whom  he 
believes?  Since  it  is  the  will  of  Christ  that  believers  should  be 
baptized,  it  should  also  be  the  will  of  him  who  believes;  and  if 
that  be  his  will  and  desire  to  do  the  will  of  Christ,  then  he  is 
saved,  even  if  he  should  not  be  able  to  receive  baptism  on  account 
of  unavoidable  hindrances.  As  in  the  case  of  Abraham,  who  was 
rcad\-  to  offer  up  his  son  Isaac,  he  obtained  a  blessing  for  his 
faith,  although  he  did  not  actually  sacrifice  his  son  :  yet  he  proved 


MACK  S     BOOK. 


59 


obedient.  So,  also,  the  believer  who  desires  to  be  baptized,  but 
from  unavoidable  circumstances  is  not  able  to  attain  his  desire, 
can  still  be  saved,  as  was  the  thief  on  the  cross.  If,  however, 
a  person  does  not  desire  baptism,  he  will  be  adjudged  as  unbe- 
lieving and  disobedient,  not  so  much  from  the  lack  of  baptism  as 
because  of  his  unbelief  and  disobedience.  This  view  will  accord 
with  the  words  of  Christ,  "Whosoever  believeth."  Had  Chris: 
connected  salvation  with  baptism,  then  men  would  have  been 
eager  to  receive  baptism  and  retain  their  self-will  and  carnal  mind, 
as  anti-Christ  does,  and  attribute  their  salvation  to  the  water,  and 
continue  to  live  on  in  their  sinful  lives. 

Question  13. — If  water  baptism  is  so  absolutelv  necessarv.  win- 
is  it  that  Christ  made  no  reference  to  it  in  His  sermon  on  the 
mount,  when  He  has  so  much  to  say  of  the  blessings?  So,  als  », 
in  His  description  of  the  judgment,  where  He  so  specirica'.'.-. 
referred  to  those  who  should  be  saved  or  condemned.  He  does 
not  make  the  slightest  reference  to  baptism. 

Answer. — It  is  astonishing  how  imperfectly  men  do  understand 
the  mind  of  God.  Christ  does  refer  to  many  blessings  in  the 
fifth  chapter  of  Matthew,  and  it  would  be  well  to  inquire  how 
those  blessings  may  be  obtained.  He  says,  "blessed  are  the 
meek."  Xow,  let  us  notice  the  call  of  Christ  (Matt,  n  :  28.  20  : 
"Come  unto  Me.  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest.  Take  My  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  Me  :  for  I 
am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto 
souls."  From  this  we  learn  that  Christ  is  the  author  of  salvation, 
and  whosoever  would  be  saved,  according  to  His  sermon  in  Mat- 
thew 5,  must  necessarily  accept  Him  in  true  faith,  and  submit 
to  His  institutions,  in  humble  obedience,  as  clay  in  the  hands  of 
the  potter;  for  He  is  indeed  the  One  whom  the  prophets  have 
foretold,  who  is  to  make  everything  new  and  perfect.  God  the 
Father  Himself  commends  His  Son.  Inasmuch  as  Christ,  wh 
is  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  considered  baptism  essential  to 
believers,  we  must  conclude  that  obedience  to  the  ordinance  is 
essential  to  salvation,  although  Christ  declared  those  blessed  who 
had   it<\  and  clothed  Him.  and  makes  no  reference  to  the  new 


60  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

creature  or  regeneration,  of  which  He  spoke  so  emphatically  in 
the  third  chapter  of  John,  declaring  that  no  one  could  enter  the 
kingdom  without  being  born  again.  It  is  also  to  be  observed  that 
in  the  third  of  John  He  said  nothing  whatever  of  visiting  those 
in  prison  and  feeding  the  hungry.  Who  would,  therefore,  con- 
clude that  the  unregenerate,  those  referred  to  in  Matthew,  fifth 
chapter,  were  unregenerated  and  unbelieving  persons,  upon  whom 
Christ  announced  His  blessings  on  account  of  their  works  of 
righteousness? — Oh,  no;  but  we  would  conclude  that  they  were 
despisers  of  baptism.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  was  one 
despiser  of  baptism  to  be  found  among  them,  although  there  may 
have  been  unbaptized  persons  who  could  not  attain  their  desire. 

Question  14. — How  can  you  prove  that  John  the  Baptist  was 
himself  baptized  ?  He  said  of  himself,  in  addressing  the  Saviour, 
"I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  Thee,  and  comest  Thou  to  me?" 
Or  was  he  saved  by  a  miraculous  interposition  without  baptism? 

Answer. — One  might  ask  many  similar  questions,  as,  for 
instance,  Where  were  Peter  and  John  baptized?  or,  Where  were 
certain  of  the  worthies  of  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  cir- 
cumcised ?  It  would  be  more  easy  to  ask  questions  than  to  edify 
to  godliness.  Paul  refers  to  such  questions.  See  1  Timothy 
1  : 4,  "Who  gave  heed  to  fables  and  endless  genealogies."  How- 
ever, we  will  endeavor,  with  patience,  to  answer  this  question 
also.  John  greatly  desired  to  be  baptized  of  Christ,  and  requested 
it ;  and  to  this  desire  and  request,  we  believe,  according  to  the 
Scriptures,  he  would  be  saved,  and  not  by  water  baptism.  Al- 
though it  may  not  be  proven  by  the  Scriptures  that  John  was 
baptized,  yet  it  can  be  proven  that  he  did  not  despise  the  ordi- 
nance. He  can  not  be  found  among  those  who  say,  "What  good 
can  water  do  me?"  He  manifested  his  obedience  to  Christ,  as 
Abraham  did  his  in  offering  up  his  son.  The  son  was  not  slain, 
and  yet  obedience  was  assured. 

Question  15. — Were  all  those  lost  who  lived  since  the  days  of 
the  early  Christians,  and  died  without  having  received  the 
original  baptism,  although  they  scrupulously  observed  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  some  of  them  even 


MACKS    BOOK.  6 1 

sacrificed  their  lives  for  their  faith?  No  matter  whether  they 
were  impelled  for  want  of  a  higher  impulse  or  from  a  lack  of 
proper  information,  they  trusted  in  their  infant  baptism :  must 
all  such  be  condemned  ? 

Anszver. — If  they  will  receive  the  same  treatment  that  Abra- 
ham did  in  offering  his  son,  then  they  will,  indeed,  be  saved ; 
namely,  they  had  the  true  faith  in  Christ,  which  is  the  foundation 
of  the  Christian  religion,  even  though  they  should  not  have 
received  baptism,  as  in  the  time  of  persecution  or  on  account  of 
other  unavoidable  circumstances.  If,  however,  they  believed  that 
their  infant  baptism  was  right  and  effectual,  then  they  were  cer- 
tainly ignorant  of  the  first  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ, 
and  inexperienced  in  the  elements  of  Christianity,  and  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  they  had  not  attained  to  the  state  of  a  new  creature 
in  Christ,  which  alone  can  stand  before  God.  However,  we 
would  not  judge  those  whom  we  have  never  known,  and  who 
lived  and  died  many  centuries  ago.  We  will  leave  them  to  the 
mercy  of  a  just  Judge.  Their  case  can  not  help  those  of  the 
present  day,  who,  through  ignorance,  will  not  accept  baptism. 

Question  16. — Does  not  the  commandment  of  baptism,  like  that 
of  circumcision  under  the  old  covenant,  concern  the  children,  and, 
therefore,  as  long  as  they  are  unbaptized,  are  they  not  in  danger 
of  losing  their  salvation  ?  And  if  they  should  die  without  being 
baptized,  will   they  not   be  lost? 

Answer. — Circumcision  was  not  commanded  to  children  under 
eight  days  of  age,  and  if  it  were  administered  to  them,  it  would 
be  as  much  of  a  transgression  of  the  ordinance  of  circumcision 
as  not  to  administer  it  at  the  proper  time.  Just  so  baptism,  which 
is  commanded  to  believers  only,  must  not  be  administered  to  chil- 
dren before  they  can  confess  their  faith,  to  which  the  eighth  day 
of  circumcision  is  a  figure. 

Question  17. — Whether  the  children,  under  the  old  covenant, 
who  died  without  being  circumcised,  were  lost  ?  How,  therefore, 
can  we  apply  the  comforting  words  of  David  to  Bath-Sheba 
(2  Sam.  12 :  23),  in  regard  to  his  child  which  died  at  the  age  of 
seven  days? 


62  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Answer. — Male  children  who  died  before  the  eighth  day  were 
no  more  guilty  of  not  being  circumcised  than  were  the  females, 
to  whom  it  never  applied.  It  did  not  affect  their  salvation. 
Enoch  led  a  godly  life,  and  was  counted  among  the  obedient,  and 
attained  the  age  of  several  hundred  years  without  being  circum- 
cised. It  had  not  been  commanded  to  him.  So  in  regard  to  all 
the  commandments  of  God;  where  there  is  no  law  there  is  no 
transgression,  and  where  there  is  no  transgression  there  is  no 
penalty. 

Question  18. — When  should  children  be  baptized?  And  should 
not  parents  use  all  diligence  to  bring  about  the  baptism  of  their 
children  as  early  as  possible,  even  in  their  childhood? 

Answer. — The  children  should  be  brought  to  Christ  through 
prayer;  but  baptism  should  be  deferred  until  they  manifest  faith, 
and  can  make  confession,  of  which  the  eighth  day  is  a  figure 
in  the  old  covenant,  and  the  first  day  in  the  life  of  the  new  crea- 
ture. If  they  should  be  baptized  sooner,  in  their  ignorance,  it 
would  be  as  much  out  of  place  as  it  would  have  been  for  the 
Jews  to  have  circumcised  their  children  before  the  eighth  day, 
which  would  have  been  presumption  instead  of  obedience. 

Question  ip. — Are  not  children  susceptible  of  faith  and,  conse- 
quently, also  of  baptism,  according  to  Luke  1:41-44;  Matt. 
18:  3-6;  Luke  18:  16,  17;  1  Cor.  7:  14,  even  if  they  should  not  be 
able  to  make  verbal  confession  like  adults?  And  do  not  the 
words  of  Mark  16:  16  place  more  stress  upon  baptism  and  the 
validity  of  faith  than  in  the  mere  words  of  confession? 

Answer. — We  have  this  single  example  of  John  the  Baptist, 
that  he  was  wrought  upon  by  the  Holy  Spirit  before  his  birth, 
because  he  was  a  child  of  promise  and  the  forerunner  of  the 
Lord.  Nevertheless,  he  could  not  be  circumcised  until  after  he 
was  born  into  the  world,  and  not  then  until  the  eighth  day ;  hence, 
even  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  John  could  not  change 
the  ordinance  of  circumcision,  but  with  children  less  favored  he 
had  to  be  circumcised  on  the  eighth  day.  Even  so  also  witli 
baptism  ;  if  the  children  of  believers  should  be  moved  upon  before 
their  birth,  thev  must  still  wait  until  after  thev  are  born,  and 


mack's   book.  63 

then  till  they  are  called  of  God  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
manifest  their  faith  by  desiring  and  by  asking  to  be  baptized 
according  to  the  example  of  Christ.  Matt.  3:13.  And  such 
desire  must  be  manifested  by  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
otherwise  it  would  not  be  proper  to  baptize  a  child,  as  salvation  is 
not  in  the  water,  but  alone  through  faith  which  worketh  obedi- 
ence through  love. 

Question  20. — Is  it  not  contrary  to  the  evangelical  doctrine  of 
the  new  covenant  to  regard  any  outward  ceremony  essential  to 
salvation,  and  more  in  accord  with  the  teachings  of  the  old 
covenant,  against  which  St.  Paul  so  earnestly  contended  in  his 
epistles  to  the  Galatians  and  the  Colossians? 

Answer. — We  do  not  regard  baptism  of  any  more  importance 
than  the  Scriptures  have  given  it ;  and  since  the  Word  of  God 
commands  that  those  who  believe  shall  be  baptized,  we  regard  it 
as  an  act  of  disobedience  to  refuse  or  oppose  that  which  God  has 
commanded.  And  whoever  will  oppose  God,  even  in  so  small  a 
matter  as  water  baptism,  must  expect  to  be  punished  for  his  dis- 
obedience. We  do  not  believe  that  men  have  a  right  to  call 
any  command  of  God  small  or  unimportant,  if  they  would  give 
proper  regard  to  the  goodness,  greatness,  and  power  of  Him 
who  gave  them.  That  which  Paul  wrote  to  the  Galatians  and 
Colossians  concerns  the  law  of  Moses,  because  it  was  too  imper- 
fect, and  yet  the  Galatians  wanted  to  observe  them,  hoping 
thereby  to  be  saved,  and  thus  despising  the  gospel  of  Christ  by 
giving  it  a  secondary  place.  But  Paul  reminds  them  of  the 
importance  of  baptism  when  he  says,  "For  as  many  of  you  as 
have  been  baptized  into  Christ,  have  put  on  Christ."  Gal.  3  :  27. 
This  testimony  of  St.  Paul  is  not  against  but  in  favor  of  baptism. 

Question  21. — Do  you  not,  by  elevating  baptism  as  a  command 
to  which  obedience  is  indispensably  essential,  establish  a  new 
species  of  popery,  in  which  men  expect  salvation  through  works  ? 

Anszcer. — WTe  have  already  plainly  declared  that  we  do  not 
expect  to  merit  salvation  by  works,  but  alone  through  faith  in 
Christ,  which  faith  must  have  works  of  obedience  in  order  that  it 
may  be  a  saving  faith.     And  when  there  is  no  such  faith  which 


64  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

worketh  obedience  (not  because  of  the  edict  of  the  pope,  but 
because  of  the  command  of  Christ  the  crucified),  there  is  no 
salvation  to  be  hoped  for  from  any  act  that  is  performed  without 
faith. 

Question  22.t—Is  the  ban  (or  external  discipline)  an  essential 
item  in  the  government  of  the  church,  since  Christ  did  not  exer- 
cise such  discipline  upon  wicked  Judas  ? 

Answer. — The  ban-  is  a  real  and  necessary  institution  in  the 
church  of  Christ,  as  long  as  she  remains  in  this  wicked  world  of 
strife  and  evil  spirits.  And  no  church  of  Christ  can  exist  with- 
out discipline.  Without  it  the  devil  would  soon  destroy  every- 
thing that  is  good,  by  his  leaven  of  wickednesss ;  and  true  believ- 
ers never  tried  to  shirk  this  practice  so  long  as  they  remained 
obedient,  but  regarded  chastisement  of  the  unfaithful  as  an  act 
of  grace,  mercy,  love,  and  care  for  the  church  of  Christ,  and 
regarded  the  excommunication  of  evil-doers  as  a  strong  wall  for 
the  protection  of  the  church  of  Christ.  As  to  Judas,  we  believe 
that  Christ  did  execute  the  ban  against  him,  and  committed  him 
to  the  power  of  Satan  with  such  authority  that  he  went  immedi- 
ately out  "and  hanged  himself."  That  Christ  did  not  execute 
the  ban  upon  Judas  until  after  the  outward  act  of  sin,  is  in  favor 
of  excommunication  instead  of  against  it,  and  is  in  accordance 
with  the  mind  of  God  throughout  all  His  dispensations.  It  may 
be  observed  in  His  dealings  with  Adam,  who,  no  doubt,  had 
been  blandishing  with  the  devil  before  he  broke  out  in  the  open 
disobedience  to  the  word  of  the  Lord.  And  so  Judas,  before 
he  betrayed  the  Saviour,  had  conceived  the  wicked  thought ;  but 
the  long-suffering  of  Christ  spared  him  and  invited  him  to  repent- 
ance, until  at  last  wickedness  overcame  him  and  broke  out  in  open 
act,  when  he  was  placed  under  the  ban  by  the  Saviour.  There- 
fore, the  act  of  excommunication  was  practically  applied  in  the 
case  of  Judas. 

Question  23. — Was  not  the  ban,  binding  and  loosing,  a  peculiar 
privilege  of  the  apostles  exclusively,  which  no  one  of  the  present 
day  should  assume  to  practice? 

Answer. — That  the  loosing  and  binding  was  commanded  espe- 


mack's   book.  65 

daily  to  the  apostles  is  true,  but  in  the  same  manner  as  it  was  a 
peculiar  command  and  privilege  of  Moses  that  through  him  the 
.law  should  be  revealed  to  the  children  of  Israel.  It  did  not,  how- 
ever, cease  with  the  death  of  Moses,  so  as  to  exclude  his  posterity, 
but  the  promise  remained  to  the  faithful  to  the  Lord  in  His  Word. 
In  the  same  manner  Christ  has  instituted  a  church  with  ordinances 
and  services,  and  appointed  apostles  and  chosen  witnesses,  all  of 
which  was  confirmed  by  signs  and  wonders  from  heaven.  There- 
fore their  successors  must  not  be  suffered,  either  through  pride 
or  prejudice,  to  substitute  other  ordinances,  but  submit  them- 
selves willingly  to  the  institutions  of  the  apostles  as  faithful 
stewards  of  the  house  of  God.  Since,  therefore,  the  ban  was 
instituted  by  Christ  and  His  apostles,  they  would  certainly  have 
the  privilege  of  administering  it.  However,  that  will  not  excuse 
the  faithful  followers  of  Christ  from  executing  the  ban  without 
fear  or  favor  of  persons. 

Question  24. — Whether  Christ  intended  in  His  teaching  (Matt. 
18:  17)  to  establish  a  general  law  of  the  New  Testament  church, 
or  does  He  not  rather  refer  to  the  state  of  the  Jewish  Church, 
and  give  to  His  disciples  quite  different  instructions  in  the 
twenty-first  and  twenty-second  verses  of  the  same  chapter? 

Answer. — That  Christ  intended  to  institute  a  general  rule  for 
the  observance  of  His  church  in  Matt.  18:  17,  has  already  been 
shown,  and  it  is  not  repealed  in  verses  21  and  22,  but  they  rather 
confirm  the  institution.  Luke  17:4  also  confirms  our  position: 
"If  thy  brother  sin  against  thee  seven  times  in  a  day,  and  seven 
times  in  a  day  turn  again  to  thee,  saying,  I  repent ;  thou  shalt  for- 
give him."  For  without  confession  there  is  no  forgiveness, 
neither  with  God  nor  with  men.  Hence  believers  must  be  of  the 
same  mind.  When  a  sinner  acknowledges  his  sins,  we  must 
forgive  him.  If  he  does  not  confess  his  sins,  the  ban  must  be 
executed  upon  him,  for  the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  Matthew 
says,  "Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the 
end  of  the  world." 

Question  25. — Did  the  apostles  ever  forbid  the  administering 


66  HISTORY    OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

of  charity  or  benevolence  to  those  who  had  been  excommunicated  ? 

Answer. — The  apostles  never  did  forbid  the  exercise  of  charity 
toward  excommunicated  members,  either  in  spiritual  or  temporal 
matters ;  but  the  excommunicated  are  to  be  invited  to  repentance, 
and  if  they  will  not  hear,  then  the  faithful  members  are  free.  So, 
also,  in  temporal  matters,  those  who  are  charitably  inclined  and 
have  means  to  spare  are  at  liberty  to  minister  to  the  excommu- 
nicated who  may  need  assistance. 

Question  26. — Did  you  New  Baptists,  who  claim  to  exercise 
the  ban  in  apostolic  order,  ever  observe  the  same  godly  effect 
upon  those  whom  you  have  excommunicated? 

Answer. — We  verily  believe  that  all  those  whom  we  have 
excommunicated  agreeably  to  God's  Word  have  been  to  some 
degree  made  sensible  of  its  effect  internally,  and  will  be  made 
manifest  outwardly  at  the  day  of  judgment  if  they  will  repent  in 
their  day  of  grace.  A  case  like  that  of  Ananias,  who  fell  dead, 
has  not  occurred  among  us,  and  it  was  the  only  instance  among 
the  apostles,  although  quite  a  number  were  excommunicated  by 
the  apostles,  but  only  one  suffered  physical  death.  Nevertheless, 
the  influence  and  power  of  the  ban  had  its  intended  effect. 

Question  2/. — Is  regeneration  inseparably  connected  with  water 
baptism  ? 

Answer. — The  genuine  regeneration  is  nothing  more  or  less 
than  genuine  obedience  to  the  Lord  in  all  His  commandments ; 
and  every  one  who  has  been  born  again  will  say  as  Jesus  did, 
"Thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousnesss."  Matt.  3:  15. 
And  so  we  will  also  answer  that  obedience  to  the  ordinance  of 
baptism  is  inseparably  connected  with  genuine  regeneration. 
However,  in  case  of  unavoidable  hindrances,  regeneration  might 
occur  without  baptism,  but  not  if  omitted  through  disobedience 
or  contempt  for  the  ordinance. 

Question  28. — Are  all  those  whom  you  have  baptized  actually 
born  again  of  God? 

Answer. — That,  indeed,  would  be  a  grand  baptism  if  all  those 
whom  we  baptize  in  water  would  become  new  creatures.  Such 
results,  however,  did  not  obtain  from  the  labors  of  Christ  or  His 


mack's   book.  67 

apostles,  that  all  whom  they  baptized  walked  in  the  truth.  But 
when  there  is  true  faith,  and  the  Word  be  accepted  in  faith,  a 
genuine  regeneration  will  follow  with  the  washing  of  water  by 
the  Word,  as  expressed  in  Eph.  5  :  26. 

Question  29. — Can  not  one  actually  be  born  again  before  being 
baptized,  inasmuch  as  baptism  itself  can  not  cause  or  bring  about 
regeneration  according  to  your  own  confession  ? 

Answer. — Adam  was  created  in  Paradise,  after  the  likeness  of 
God,  but  when  he  became  disobedient  to  the  command  of  God, 
he  lost  the  beautiful  image  in  which  he  was  created,  and  on 
account  of  his  disobedience  he  was  doomed  to  death.  And  so 
a  person  may  receive  some  of  the  blessings  of  regeneration  before 
baptism.  If,  however,  he  does  not  grow  in  the  divine  life,  he 
will  surely  fall  back  and  lose  all  that  he  had  gained.  Obedience 
to  Christ  in  the  keeping  of  His  commandments,  is  nourishment 
to  the  new  creature.  If  he  will  not  partake  of  it,  but  instead 
eat  of  that  offered  by  the  tempter,  which  is  disobedience  to  the 
Word,  it  will  happen  to  him  as  it  did  to  Adam  in  Paradise.  Inas- 
much as  baptism  is  commanded  by  Christ,  therefore  the  regener- 
ated man  must  submit  to  it,  in  order  to  fulfil  righteousness. 

Question  30. — Does  not  true  Christian  brotherhood  depend 
more  on  regeneration  than  on  baptism  ? 

Answer. — Christian  brotherhood  must  result  from  faith  and 
obedience  to  Christ  and  His  gospel.  Therefore,  the  true  brethren 
of  Christ  never  attempted  to  evade  outward  baptism,  inasmuch 
as  their  Elder  Brother  had  taught  it  by  precept  and  example,  and 
declared  that  He  would  recognize  as  His  brethren  those  only 
who  obeyed  the  will  of  His  heavenly  Father.     Matt.  12 :  50. 

Question  31. — Are  we  not  duty  bound  to  recognize  those  as 
brethren  who  manifest  their  regeneration  before  God  and  man, 
even  if  they  have  not  been  baptized?     See  Matt.  12:49,  5°- 

Answer. — Those  who  manifest  their  regeneration  before  God 
and  man  we  hold  as  brethren,  and  such  will  not  resist  any  ordi- 
nance of  the  Lord,  but  will  gladly  receive  Christian  baptism 
upon  their  faith  and  internal  evidence.     Christ  recognized  those 


68  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

only  as  His  brethren  who  were  also  His  disciples  and  had  been 
baptized.     Read  carefully  Matt.  12:49,  5°- 

Question  32. — Can  you  declare  before  Jesus  Christ,  the  all- 
wise  Searcher  of  Hearts  and  Judge  of  the  quick  and  dead,  that 
you  are  all  of  the  same  mind  and  of  one  accord  ? 

Anszver. — The  Lord  does  not  require  that  we  should  already 
be  perfect,  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul;  and  therefore  we  can 
not  say  that  we  have  attained  unto  perfection  in  the  acts,  in 
the  will.  However,  we  must  be  perfect,  continuing  in  well- 
doing, "till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  Eph.  4:  11-13. 
It  can  not  be  said  that  the  church  at  Jerusalem  lived  in  a  state  of 
perfection,  and  that  they  were  all  of  one  heart  and  of  one  mind, 
although  at  first  they  were  all  united  in  following  Christ  through 
self-denial  of  all  their  earthly  pleasures,  wealth,  and  honor.  In 
knowledge,  however,  they  were  at  variance  with  each  other,  as 
may  be  learned  from  Acts  15:5,  etc.  And  as  to  the  church  at 
Jerusalem,  great  heresies  arose  among  them,  and  disputations  on 
the  subject  of  circumcision,  causing  the  apostles  much  trouble  in 
order  to  maintain  unity,  making  it  necessary  to  call  "the  great 
council,"  already  referred  to.  It  is,  therefore,  unreasonable  to 
expect  perfection  in  us  in  these  last  days,  when  darkness  covers 
all  nations,  and  especially  since  those  who  claim  to  have  received 
the  spirit  of  baptism  disagree  so  much  among  themselves  upon 
the  clearly  revealed  command  of  baptism  that  they  are  living  in 
constant  doubt  and  uncertainty  in  regard  to  the  command  of  bap- 
tism and  other  institutions  of  the  house  of  God. 

Question  33. — Do  you  not  regard  your  church  as  superior  to 
other  Baptists  of  the  present  or  any  other  age?  and  wherefore  and 
wherein  ? 

Anszver. — We  do  regard  our  church  better  than  the  present 
degenerated  Baptists,  whom  we  know  of  a  certainty  to  have 
degenerated  in  life  and  doctrine,  and  have  left  the  doctrine  and 
life  of  the  old  Baptists.  This  is  acknowledged  by  their  own  peo- 
ple.    We  can  not  answer  for  former  Baptist  Churches,  of  whose 


mack's   book.  69 

life  we  know  nothing.  As  far  as  doctrine  is  concerned,  we  are  in 
perfect  harmony  with  those  who  oppose  no  part  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ. 

Question  34. — What  reason  can  you  give  for  regarding  your 
new  established  church,  with  its  baptism  and  excommunication 
ordinances,  as  equal  with  the  apostolical  church,  since  it  had 
neither  divine  calling,  nor  manifestation  of  spiritual  power? 

Answer. — With  respect  to  the  power  of  performing  miracles, 
we  regard  ourselves  as  very  inferior  to  the  apostles,  and  unworthy 
to  be  compared  to  them.  In  respect  to  the  doctrine  and  inclina- 
tion, we  still  beseech  our  heavenly  Father  to  ?  give  us  the  mind 
and  will  of  the  apostles,  and  not  only  that,  but  the  mind  of  His 
Son,  Jesus  Christ. 

Question  35.— Can  your  teachers  and  elders  confess  before 
God  and  their  own  consciences  that  the  Holy  Ghost  ordained  them 
bishops  in  your  church  to  feed  it  and  nourish  it  as  a  church  of 
God,  and  whether  they  have  the  qualifications  and  spiritual  gifts 
required  and  enumerated  in  2  Cor.  6,  and  other  passages? 

Answer. — To  God  they  must  answer  if  they  are  true  shepherds. 
But  they  must  not  be  discouraged  if  men  will  not  believe  them, 
but  should  rather  rejoice  when  their  names  are  cast  out  as  evil 
for  the  Son  of  man's  sake.     Luke  6 :  22. 

Question  36. — Must  you  not  confess  before  God,  that  many 
among  you  were  more  affectionate,  mild,  and  humble  before  bap- 
tism than  afterward? 

Answer. — To  this  we  must  answer,  No.  Of  course  there  were 
those  among  us,  who,  like  dry  branches,  had  to  be  pruned. 
Others  pretended  to  have  a  great  love,  but  were  animated  only 
by  hungering  after  the  loaves  and  fishes,  and  had  never  cruci- 
fied the  flesh  by  genuine  repentance.  Their  profession  was :  "Let 
me  serve  God  according  to  my  own  will  and  pleasure.  I  will 
grant  you  the  same  privilege.  We  will  love  each  other  and  call 
each  other  brethren."  If  you  mean  such,  then  we  acknowledge 
the  truth  of  your  accusation.  Especially  was  that  our  experi- 
ence while  we  were  yet  among  the  Pietists ;  but  now  we  have 
learned  to  exercise  a  love  that  hates  corruption  and  punishes 
wickedness. 


7<D  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Question  3/. — Did  you  not  introduce  your  new  baptism  with 
much  doubt  and  uncertainty,  and  still  continue  in  darkness? 
And  did  you  not  manifest  the  same  trepidation  and  inconstancy 
in  other  points;  for  instance,  by  rejecting  matrimony  and  then 
again  permitting  it,  sometimes  working  for  a  livelihood,  and  then 
again  denying  it  ? 

Answer. — We  introduced  the  baptism  of  Christ  according  to 
His  command,  and  the  strong  faith  and  certainty,  and  the  dear 
Lord  has  sustained  us  until  the  present  time  against  much  oppo- 
sition, and  has  established  us  in  His  grace,  so  that  we  are  enabled 
to  say  that  whosoever  believeth  should  be  baptized,  but  that  we 
have  need  of  instruction  after  baptism  in  regard  to  matrimony, 
the  duty  of  labor  and  upon  other  points  of  doctrine  is  more  than 
true ;  because  while  we  were  yet  among  the  Pietists  we  were  not 
taught  any  better.  We  also  had  much  strife  and  contention  before 
we  were  liberated  from  that  error. 

Question  38. — How  shall  we  know,  beyond  all  doubt,  that  your 
new  denomination,  above  all  others,  is  to  be  recognized  as  the 
true  church? 

Anszver. — We  have  no  new  denomination  and  no  new  ordi- 
nances, but  simply  desire  to  live  in  the  old  church  which  Christ 
established  through  the  virtue  of  His  own  blood,  and  obey  the 
commandment  which  was  from  the  beginning;  and  it  is  not  our 
desire  to  appear  before  men  as  the  only  established  church  of 
Christ;  but  we  do  anxiously  desire  to  show  forth  undaunted 
godliness  by  the  grace  and  power  of  Christ  as  it  was  in  Christ 
Himself  and  in  the  church  at  Jerusalem.  And  if  we  can  succeed 
in  thus  setting  forth  the  institutions  of  Christ  and  of  the  original 
church  in  a  godly  life  and  by  holy  conversations,  and  in  keeping 
His  ordinances,  it  appears  to  us  that  should  be  sufficient  to  show 
to  all  men  that  we  are  the  true  church  of  Christ.  But  whosoever 
can  not  recognize  Christ  in  the  holiness  of  His  commandments 
would  not  be  able  to  recognize  the  church  of  Christ,  even  if  the 
twelve  apostles  were  among  them. 

Question  39. — Have    you   the  undoubted   assurance  of    your 
divinely-established  calling  through  the  Holy  Spirit  that  God  has 


mack's   book.  71 

recognized  you  as  His  chosen  people?  And  how  will  you  con- 
vince the  world  of  the  truthfulness  of  your  assumptions  ? 

Answer. — Such  assurance  must  certainly  be  before  God,  as 
Paul  declares  in  Rom.  5:1,  2:  'Therefore,  being  justified  by 
faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
by  whom  we  have  access  through  faith  into  this  grace  wherein 
we  stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God."  But  this 
assurance  the  apostles  and  no  one  else  can  have,  except  by  the 
commands  of  Christ ;  for  as  long  as  they  abode  in  Christ,  and  His 
words  remained  in  them,  so  long  they  were  His  disciples,  and 
whatsoever  they  asked  of  Him  that  was  granted  unto  them.  For 
whosoever  continues  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ  to  the  end  shall  be 
saved.     See  John  15:7. 

Question  40. — Do  you  expect  better  success  than  that  which 
followed  earlier  anabaptists  ?  And  why  and  with  what  assurance 
can  you  hope  to  receive  the  blessing  of  an  impartial  God,  who 
despises  self-exaltation  ? 

Answer. — If  we  abide  in  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament, 
then  we  may,  indeed,  hope  for  this  one  result,  namely,  the  end  of 
our  faith  shall  be  everlasting  life ;  and  for  the  light  afflictions  of 
this  life  shall  inherit  a  crown  of  everlasting  joy.  Of  our  suc- 
cessors, however,  we  can  say  nothing.  According  to  their  faith 
and  works  shall  be  their  success.  We  will  say,  however,  that  the 
influences  of  the  early  Baptists  were  much  better  and  more  cred- 
itable to  their  religious  profession  than  that  of  L or  C 

or  C N,  whose  influence  had  too  much  of  the  sensual  and 

too  much  of  the  fleshly  mind.  Even  the  Jews  and  the  Turks 
were  astonished  at  the  ungodly  conduct  of  their  followers.  They 
could  not  destroy  life  rapidly  enough  by  persecuting  God's  people 
with  the  gallows,  and  the  wheel,  and  the  rack;  but  they  volun- 
tarily entered  the  army  and  killed  their  fellowmen,  and  in  many 
cases  their  own  brethren,  by  the  thousands ;  and  all  this  is  the 
fruit  of  your  infant  baptism.  One  will  not  find  Tunkers  going  to 
war,  and  very  few  in  prison  or  on  the  gallows,  as  penalty  for 
crime.  They  are  generally  in  favor  of  peace.  One  may  safely 
abide  under  their  roofs  without  fear  of  being  robbed  or  murdered. 


72  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

Indeed,  it  would  be  a  blessing  to  society  if  the  world  were  full  of 
those  despised  Tunkers.  Their  influence  is  also  better  than  that 
of  the  Pietists  who  made  a  misstep  only  a  few  years  after  they 
had  cut  loose  from  the  great  Babel.  Many  of  them  soon  volun- 
tarily returned ;  from  which  may  the  good  Lord  mercifully  pre- 
serve all  Baptists,  so  that  their  success  may  be  as  intimated  above, 
of  peace  and  joy. 

Conclusion. — These,  dear  friends,  are  the  most  important  ques- 
tions which  it  has  been  deemed  prudent  to  present  to  you  in 
regard  to  your  new  baptism  and  denomination,  as  well  for  your 
own  sake  as  for  the  satisfaction  of  others.  You  will  please  con- 
sider them  well,  and  then  make  such  answers,  accompanied  with 
such  arguments  as  you  may  be  able  to  present  in  favor  of  your 
doctrine  and  practice,  as  you  expect  to  answer  before  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  and  all  His  holy  angels. 

Reply. — Beloved  Friends :  At  your  request  we  have  endeavored, 
in  love  and  in  the  fear  of  God,  to  answer  your  pointed  questions 
upon  forty  difficult  subjects.  We  did  this  according  to  our  faith 
and  to  the  best  of  our  knowledge,  as  we  expect  to  answer  to  God, 
who  sent  His  beloved  Son  into  the  world  that  we  should  hear  Him 
and  obey  Him,  and  thus  inherit  everlasting  life.  And  now,  if  you 
love  your  own  souls,  we  would  admonish  you  to  make  haste  and 
bow  to  the  scepter  of  our  great  King.  Believe  His  Word,  and 
that  His  baptism  is  essential  to  the  salvation  of  the  poor  sinner. 
Do  not  say,  How  can  water  help  me?  and  do  not  comfort  your- 
selves with  your  infant  baptism,  which  is  contrary  to  the  Word 
of  God.  Otherwise  these  simple  testimonies  which  you  extorted 
from  the  humble  Tunkers  of  Schwarzenau  will  all  be  in  vain  to 
you,  and  for  which  you  must  answer  in  the  great  judgment  day 
before  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  come  in  great  power,  in 
flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God  and 
obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  now  unto 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  who  has  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth, 
be  praise,  and  honor  from  everlasting  to  everlasting.  Amen. 
Behold,  He  cometh  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  every  eye  shall 
behold  Him,  and  they  also  which  pierced  Him.     Amen. 


MACK'S    BOOK.  73 

Published  at  Schwarzenau,  in  the  month  of  July,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirteen. 

A   CONVERSATION   BETWEEN    FATHER   AND   SON. 

In  the  same  cover  is  published  a  conversation  between  father 
and  son,  which  is  also  here  presented.  To  save  space  the  ques- 
tions are  omitted,  being  incorporated  in  the  answers. 

The  conversation  is  introduced  by  the  following  statement : — 

Son. — Beloved  father,  as  we  are  here  alone  in  a  desert,  I  will 
relate  to  thee  the  treatment  given  me  by  a  certain  company.  I 
was  attacked  on  the  subject  of  baptism.  I  was  called  an  ana- 
baptist, because  we  baptize  such  as  were  baptized  in  their  infancy. 
Then,  too,  I  was  severely  attacked  by  those  who  in  their  riper 
years  were  baptized  by  sprinkling,  and  whom  we  baptize  by 
immersion,  should  they  wish  to  enter  our  congregation.  This, 
with  our  mode  of  keeping  the  Lord's  Supper,  excommunication, 
observance  of  feet  washing,  and  the  use  of  unleavened  bread  at 
our  communions,  were  also  criticized.  Then  I  was  opposed  by 
ingenious  discourses,  to  which  I  was  not  able  to  give  satisfactory 
answers.  I  therefore  entreat  thee,  beloved  father,  to  give  me 
better  instructions  in  all  such  cases  of  controversy,  as  to  the 
tenor  of  the  holy  Scriptures  and  the  primitive  Christians.  My 
desire  is  to  become  firm  in  my  faith,  and  be  able  to  give  others 
a  true  account  of  divine  knowledge,  for  which  friendly  act  I  shall 
always  be  indebted  to  thee. 

Fathers  Reply. — God  is  the  author  of  baptism.  As  early  as 
the  days  of  Noah  He  gave  a  figure  of  baptism  by  water  in  the 
new  covenant ;  for  when  men  became  wicked,  God  sent  a  flood  of 
water  to  drown  the  ungodly.  Of  this  the  apostle  Peter  says: 
"The  like  figure  whereunto  even  baptism  doth  also  now  save  us 
(not  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer 
of  a  good  conscience  towards  God)  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ."  i  Peter  3:  20,  21.  Further,  the  Lord  gave  a  figure  by 
His  servant  Moses  in  testimony  of  what  afterwards  should  be 
manifested  by  His  Son.  Hebrews,  third  chapter.  Moses  was 
drawn  out  of  the  water  by  Pharaoh's  daughter,  therefore,  said 


74  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

she,  he  shall  be  called  Moses,  "because  I  drew  him  out  of  the 
water."     Ex.  2:10. 

When  God  by  a  mighty  hand  conducted  Abraham's  seed  by 
this  same  Moses  out  of  Egypt,  the  children  of  Israel  escaped 
from  the  Egyptians,  which  escape  was  made  through  the  Red 
Sea,  and  which  act  represented  baptism  in  the  new  covenant. 
Paul  calls  it  a  baptism  "unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the 
sea."     1  Cor.  10:  2. 

When  the  Lord  instructed  Moses  to  erect  a  tabernacle,  it  was 
intended  as  a  figure  of  the  church  or  congregation  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  With  this  in  view  God  ordered  Moses  to  make  a  laver 
before  the  tabernacle,  wherein  Aaron,  the  priest,  and  his  sons 
were  obliged  to  wash  themselves  before  they  were  admitted  into 
the  tabernacle.  Ex.  30:18,  19,  20;  40:12.  This,  too,  was  a 
striking  figure  of  baptism  which  Jesus  commanded :  That  none 
can  enter  or  serve  in  the  Lord's  congregation  without  previously 
having  been  baptized  in  water  upon  the  confession  of  their  faith 
in  Jesus.  God  commanded  in  the  law  that  when  a  leper  had 
been  cured  of  his  disease,  he  was  obliged  to  wash  his  body  in 
water.  Lev.  14:8,  9.  The  women,  too,  in  order  to  their  puri- 
fication, were  commanded  to  bathe  their  bodies  with  water.  In 
a  word,  numbers  of  these  ceremonies,  commanded  to  be  per- 
formed in  the  Old,  all  alluded  to  baptism  in  the  New  Testament. 
When  the  Father  was  about  to  manifest  His  beloved  Son  in  the 
world,  a  forerunner  preceded  Him,  preaching  to  the  people  of 
Judea  "the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins,"  that 
they  might  believe  in  Him  who  was  to  come  after  him,  namely, 
in  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God.  He  baptized  "in  Aenon,  near  to  Salim, 
because  there  was  much  water  there."  John  3 :  23.  An  ablution 
by  water  in  those  days  was  not  counted  a  very  strange  act.  It 
was  a  custom  among  the  Jews  for  the  purpose  of  cleanliness.  All 
the  surprise  it  occasioned  proceeded  from  its  connection  with 
preaching  repentance,  announcing  the  appearance  of  the  Son  of 
God,  and  recommending  faith  in  Him.  The  scribes  and  the 
great  men  of  the  world  did  not  submit  to  his  baptism — did  not 
suffer  themselves  to  be  baptized.     To  them  it  was  too  contempti- 


MACK'S     BOOK.  jc 

ble.     They  rejected  the  counsel  of  God  against  themselves,  and 
were  not  baptized,  as  ye  may  see  in  Luke  7 :  30.     But  Jesus,  the 
Son  of  God,  in  this  respect  was  obedient  to  His  Father,  because 
He  knew  that  the  baptism  of  John  was  from  heaven.     He  there- 
fore came  from  Galilee  to  Jordan  in  order  to  be  baptized  of  John. 
Matt.  3 :  13.     It  was  a  forcible  example  for  all  His  disciples  to 
follow  Him.     The  Son  of  God  was  so  well  acquainted  with  the 
will  of  His  Father  that  He  said  to  John,  "Thus  it  becometh  us  to 
fulfil  all  righteousness."     It  was  the  intention  of  Christ  to  order 
and  institute  a  water  bath  for  His  church,  to  answer  as  an  initiat- 
ing seal,  and  an  external  mark,  for  all  those  who  should  believe 
in    Him.      He    in    the    first    place    fulfilled    His    Father's    will. 
The  baptism  of  John  was  commanded  by  God,  and  thus  made 
a  beginning  of  baptism.     This  was  not  necessary  for  repentance, 
but  alone  for  such  who  had  already  repented  and  believed  in 
Jesus,  and  upon  this  faith  and  confession  were  baptized  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
The  moment  the  Lord  Jesus  was  baptized  and  arose  from  the 
water,  a  voice  was  heard  from  heaven,  which  said,  "This  is  My 
beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased,"  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
like  a  dove,  alighted  upon  Him.     Thus  has  the  beginning  of  bap- 
tism by  water  in  the  New  Testament  a  very  powerful  author, 
namely,  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost, 
in  whose  three  most  exalted  names  Jesus  commanded  baptism  to 
be  administered.     After  His  baptism,  Jesus  began  to  make  dis- 
ciples and  to  baptize.     See  John  3:26;  4:1.     The  disciples  of 
John  came  to  him  and  said,  "Rabbi,  He  that  was  with  thee  beyond 
Jordan,  to  whom  thou  barest  witness,  behold  the  same  baptizeth, 
and  all  men  come  to  Him."     John  answered  and  said :  "He  must 
increase,  but  I  must  decrease.     He  that  cometh  from  heaven,  is 
above  all,  and  what  He  has  seen  and  heard  He  testifieth  ;  and  no 
man  receiveth  His  testimony,  but  he  that  hath  received  His  testi- 
mony, hath  set  to  his  seal  that  God  is  true."     In  confirmation  of 
this,  John  says,  in  his  first  epistle   (5:6),  that  the  Son  of  God 
came  with  water,  blood,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  that  these  were 
the  three  who  bear  witness  upon  earth. 


76  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Did  Christ,  after  His  resurrection,  command  baptism  to  be 
performed  ? — Yes ;  when  the  Lord  Jesus  was  about  to  send  His 
disciples  into  the  world  to  preach  His  gospel,  He  gave  them  this 
strict  charge:  That  they  should  teach  and  baptize  in  His  name 
all  such  who  should  believe  in  Him.  Matt.  28:  19  20.  "Teach- 
ing them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you."  This  case  is  farther  exemplified  in  Acts  2 :  37,  38.  When 
the  people  asked  Peter  what  they  should  do,  he  answered, 
"Repent  and  be  baptized,  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost." 

Philip  preached  Christ  to  the  people  at  Samaria,  and  those 
who  believed  were  baptized,  both  men  and  women.     Acts  8:  5-12. 

As  it  is  written  here  that  both  men  and  women  were  baptized, 
were  not  children  also  baptized  ? 

No ;  in  the  New  Testament  we  do  not  find  a  single  instance  of 
the  kind,  for  the  apostles  baptized  only  such  who  by  true  repent- 
ance confessed  faith  in  Jesus,  because  their  Master  did  not  com- 
mand any  others  than  such  as  were  capable  of  being  taught,  both 
before  and  after  baptism. 

True,  but  did  not  Christ  command  that  the  children  should  be 
baptized?     And  did  not  the  apostles  obey  Him? 

Christ  commanded  to  baptize  faithful  believers  only,  and  not 
children.  Jesus  laid  His  hands  on  children  and  blessed  them ; 
but  with  respect  to  baptism  of  infants  the  Scriptures  are  silent. 
Circumcision  in  the  Old  Testament  was  ordered  alone  for  male 
children,  to  be  performed  on  the  eighth  day.  If  a  child  died 
before  that  time,  which,  as  no  doubt  many  did,  it  would  not  have 
transgressed  the  commandments  of  God,  nor  would  it  have  been 
rejected  on  that  account.  Female  children  were  not  circumcised, 
yet  they  belonged  to  the  kingdom.  Thus  if  a  child  dies  without 
having  been  baptized,  it  can  sustain  no  injury,  because  it  did  not 
live  to  the  time  when  it  could  have  repented  and  believed  in  the 
Lord  Jesus,  upon  the  faith  of  whom  it  could  have  been  baptized, 
which  time  doubtless  is  represented  by  the  eighth  day.  Baptism 
is  ordered  alone  for  believing  adults  and  not  children.     Children 


mack's  book.  77 

are  saved  through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ.  Articles  of  faith 
of  such  importance  are  always  connected  with  positive  com- 
mands. 

Did  the  primitive  Christians  baptize  children? 
We  find  in  Godfrey  Arnold's  portrait  of  the  first  Christians 
that  infant  baptism  began  to  be  practiced  in  the  end  of  the  second 
century.  In  the  beginning  this  was  done  at  pleasure  by  every 
one  who  was  disposed  to  do  so.  It  was  afterwards  performed 
only  on  Easter  days.  And  it  was  enacted  a  law  by  a  certain 
pope,  that  no  child  should  be  suffered  to  die  without  baptism,  and 
by  a  long-established  custom  it  got  into  such  reputation  that 
many  now  believe  it  to  have  been  commanded  by  Christ  Himself. 
Is  it  water  that  saves  ? 

Water  is  a  fluid  created  by  God,  and  is  the  source  of  every- 
thing. The  whole  earth  rests  in  water,  and  is  founded  thereon. 
Man  himself  in  the  womb  is  formed  in  water.  Even  the  Spirit 
of  God  originally  moved  on  the  water,  and,  of  course,  it  contains 
a  divine  mercy.  Christ,  too,  by  His  baptism,  sanctified  the  water. 
He  says  (John  3:5)  that  it  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  enter  the 
kingdom  of  God  unless  he  be  born  again  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit.  Nevertheless,  the  believer  puts  no  faith  whatever  in  the 
power  of  water  in  baptism,  but  alone  in  the  power  of  the  Word, 
which  commanded  it,  since  Christ  instituted  a  water  bath  for  His 
community,  and  will  purify  it  by  the  washing  of  the  water  in  the 
Word,  as  Paul  says  (Eph.  5:26).  The  faithful  believe  that  the 
obedience  towards  the  commandment  of  baptism  purifies  and 
saves  them  from  everlasting  punishment,  provided  that  after  this 
ablution  they  do  not  again  wallow  in  the  mire  by  transgressing 
and  sinning  against  the  Word ;  for  God  looks  upon  obedience  as 
binding  the  faithful  to  follow  the  Word,  by  which  alone  they 
obtain  everlasting  life. 

If  a  man  should  deny  himself  in  everything,  give  his  goods  to 
feed  the  poor,  pray  and  fast  a  great  deal,  but  will  not  receive 
baptism,  because  it  is  an  external  deed,  can  such  a  man  not 
please  God? 

Were  a  man  to  do  all   this  by  true    faith    and    love   towards 


78  HISTORY     0$    THE     TUNKERS. 

God,  it  would  be  good  and  wholesome,  and  he  could  certainly 
not  refuse  to  submit  to  baptism;  "For  this  is  the  love  of  God, 
that    we    keep    His    commandments;    and    His    commandments 
are  not  grievous."     I   John  5:3.     Paul,  in   1   Cor.   13:3,  says: 
"Though  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  though  I 
give  my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have  not  charity,  it  profit eth  me 
nothing."     Charity  believeth  all  that  God  commanded.     Christ, 
too,  said,  John  14 :  23,  24,  "If  a  man  love  Me,  he  will  keep  My 
words  ;  He  that  loveth  Me  not,  keepeth  not  My  sayings."     A  man 
in  his  own  conceit,  therefore,  may  do  a  great  deal  without  pos- 
sessing the  love  in  Jesus  as  the  chief  head.     "Whosoever  shall 
keep  the  whole  law,  and  yet  offend  in  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of 
all."     James  2 :  10.     If  you,  my  son,  had  been  obedient  to  me  for 
more  than  ten  years,  and  I  were  to  command  you  to  pick  up  a 
straw,  but  you  were  not  willing  to  do  this,  and  did  it  not,  I  would 
be  compelled  to  look  upon  you  as  a  disobedient  child,  even  though 
you  should  say  a  thousand  times,  "Father,  I  will  do  everything; 
I  will  work  hard ;  wherever  you  send  me  I  will  go ;  but  to  pick  up 
the  straw  I  take  to  be  a  very  useless  piece  of  business  to  you  as 
well  as  to  me."     I  would,  therefore,  call  you  a  disobedient  child. 
God  is  inclined    in  the  same    manner.      God    told    Adam    he 
should  eat  of  every  tree;  but  of  one  he  should  not  eat.     The 
moment  he  ate  of  the  forbidden  fruit  he  lost  all  his  felicity,  and 
for  his  disobedience  was  expelled  from  the  garden.     In  the  Old 
Testament  (Num.  15 :  30,  31),  it  is  said  that  if  a  soul  doeth  aught 
presumptuously,  and  despises  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  breaks 
His  commandments,  he  shall  be  cut  off. 

When  the  sons  of  Aaron  brought  strange  fire  before  the  Lord, 
they  died.  Lev.  10:  12.  King  Saul  was  rejected  by  the  Lord  on 
account  of  his  disobedience.  1  Sam.  15:22,  23.  Achan  was 
forced  to  die,  with  his  whole  family,  because  he  violated  the  com- 
mandment of  God  in  taking  of  the  accursed  thing  at  the  siege  of 
Jericho,  which  God  had  forbidden  to  take.  Joshua  7 :  20.  Many 
similar  instances  might  be  cited  from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but 
these  will  suffice.  God  requires  a  strict  obedience  from  all  His 
creatures,  and  the  faithful  of  all  ages  have  always  obeyed  all  the 


MACK  S    BOOK.  79 

commandments  of  God  and  subjected  their  understanding  and 
wills  to  the  will  of  God.  Neither  have  we  on  record  a  single 
instance  when  a  believer  refused  obedience  to  God  or  any 
commandment. 

God  is  good,  and  does  not  require  services  from  men  for  His 
own  glory,  as  He  has  thousands  of  angels  and  servants,  who  con- 
tinually serve  Him.  The  commandments  given  by  God  to  man 
are  always  given  for  man's  good,  to  make  him  humble,  pure,  and 
holy.  Through  the  fall  of  Adam  man  became  puffed  up,  and  in 
his  own  conceit  desired  greatness  and  power.  To  rescue  man 
from  this  depraved  condition,  commandments  were  given  him 
through  obedience,  to  which  he  might  purify  himself.  If  he 
obeys  these  and  surrenders  his  reason  to  the  will  of  God,  he  may 
again  attain  unto  a  state  of  purity  and  simplicity,  and  if  perse- 
vered in,  the  soul  will  find  rest,  peace,  and  safety.  Jesus  said, 
"Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that  unless  ye  become  as  children,  ye 
can  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

All  commandments  point  to  true  obedience.  The  same  is  true 
of  baptism,  which  Christ  commanded  His  apostles  to  administer, 
and  which  they  did.  This  commandment  was  issued  to  all 
believers,  that  they  should  be  baptized,  and  is  to  continue  in  prac- 
tice until  the  end  of  the  world.  It  is  clearly  and  explicitly  so 
expressed  in  Matt.  28:  19,  20,  where  our  Saviour  says:  'Teach 
all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you 
always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.     Amen." 

God's  economy  and  discipline  were  remarkable,  even  under 
the  law.  When  the  Lord  ordered  Moses  to  build  a  house  for  the 
priests  to  serve  in,  He  selected,  from  the  tribe  of  Levi,  Aaron  and 
his  sons  to  fill  that  office.  When  it  happened  that  the  temple  and 
all  belonging  to  it,  was  destroyed,  and  the  people  again  wished 
to  have  divine  service,  no  other  than  those  of  the  tribe  just  men- 
tioned were  permitted  to  act  as  priests.  The  wicked  king  Jero- 
boam made  priests  of  those  not  belonging  to  that  tribe,  who 
administered  false  worship.     1  Kings  12:  31.     When  they  elected 


80  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

priests  from  the  tribe  of  Levi,  they  took  such  as  were  free  from 
blemishes  and  infirmities.  I  Chron.  3:21.  So,  also,  the  Son  of 
God  appointed  apostles  and  other  teachers  to  watch  over  His 
church.  The  apostles  also  appointed  others  for  the  house  of  God, 
to  baptize,  excommunicate,  etc.  But  they  always  selected  those 
whose  pedigree  was  from  the  royal  priesthood ;  that  is,  those  who 
had  the  Spirit  of  Jesus,  and  by  this  alone  could  they  with  pro- 
priety baptize.  The  apostles  in  their  time  noticed,  too,  such  men, 
not  possessing  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  who,  nevertheless,  pretended 
to  be  Christians.  Of  these  Paul  said  to  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  20 :  2,  9,  30,  "Of  your  own  selves  shall 
men  arise,  speaking  perverse  things,  to  draw  away  disciples  after 
them."  Thus,  at  all  times  this  was  looked  upon  as  a  sign  of  the 
false  spirit.  Those  who  seek  their  own  honor,  have  not  the 
nature  of  Christ.  Christ  did  not  place  Himself  in  the  office  of 
the  priesthood,  but  His  Father  did.  The  first  teachers  and  elders 
of  the  church  were  appointed  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Acts 
20:  18-28.  When  the  apostle  Paul  called  to  him  the  elders  and 
teachers  of  the  church  of  Ephesus,  among  others  he  gave  them 
this  charge:  "Take  heed,  therefore,  unto  yourselves,  and  to  all 
the  flock,  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  overseers." 
Whenever  men  placed  themselves  in  the  service  of  the  church, 
urged  on  by  their  own  spirit  and  honor,  great  abuse  and  corrup- 
tion were  the  result. 

Thousands  of  preachers  this  day  exist  in  the  world,  of  whom 
the  smallest  number  belong  to  the  royal  priesthood  of  the  people. 
1  Peter  2 : 9.  The  smallest  number  have  the  Spirit  of  Christ. 
The  smallest  number  were  made  overseers  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Their  object  in  preaching  is  nothing  but  honor  and  emolument. 
The  churches,  after  the  death  of  the  apostles,  who  still  remained 
pure,  always  appointed  among  them  such  men  as  had  the  Spirit 
of  Jesus  and  denied  themselves.  As  Christ  appointed  His 
apostles,  so  did  the  church  of  the  Lord,  as  the  body  of  Christ, 
ever  since  appoint  such  as  they  thought  fit ;  and  thus  commands 
of  Jesus  in  their  purity  never  ceased  to  be  executed.  They  are 
in  these  words,  namely,  "Teach  them  to  observe  all  things  what- 


mack's   book.  8  i 

soever  I  have  commanded  you."  Matt.  28 :  30.  And  these  will 
remain  in  full  force  until  Christ  shall  come  again  and  reckon  with 
His  servants  as  well  as  His  enemies. 

Ciprianus,  and  other  pious  men  of  the  primitive  church, 
demanded  of  one  who  would  baptize,  that  he  be  sound  in  the 
faith,  and  that  he  was  appointed  for  that  purpose  by  the  church. 
The  same  was  required  by  the  council  at  Ilibris,  that  the  adminis- 
trator of  baptism  should  himself  have  been  properly  baptized  and 
that  he  had  not  since  then  fallen  from  grace.  Gregory  also 
demanded  that  those  who  would  be  numbered  among  the  faith- 
ful, should  be  regarded  as  worthy  and  competent  to  administer 
baptism. 

BAPTISM   IS   IMMERSION. 

Christ,  as  the  true  Exemplar  of  His  church,  was  baptized  of 
John  in  the  river  Jordan.  Matt.  3:13.  John  baptized  at  a  place 
"near  Salim,  because  there  was  much  water  there."  John  3 :  23. 
From  these  two  testimonies  it  is  evident  that  baptism  could  not 
have  been  performed  in  a  dry  place,  or  John  would  not  have 
resorted  to  places  where  there  was  much  water ;  for  it  would 
have  been  much  more  convenient  to  have  performed  this  ordi- 
nance in  a  house  than  in  the  water,  which  is  often  cold  and  dis- 
agreeable to  nature. 

Baptism,  according  to  the  Greek  text,  is  said  to  signify  immer- 
sion, as  translated  by  Jeremiah  Felbinger.  But  since  sprink- 
ling became  a  custom,  and  the  learned  for  the  sake  of  delicacy 
were  afraid  of  the  effects  of  water,  they  allowed  the  Greek  word 
also  to  signify  sprinkling,  pouring,  or  aspersion.  Still  they  con- 
fess its  true  signification  to  be  immersion.  When  Philip  bap- 
tized the  eunuch,  they  went  down  into  the  water,  and  Philip 
baptized  him.  Acts  8 :  38,  39.  We  also  find  in  the  history  of 
the  primitive  Christians,  that  they  baptized  in  streams,  rivers, 
fountains,  etc.  We  also  read  in  the  bloody  Tonel  of  the  bap- 
tized (page  265),  that  many  persons  were  baptized  in  the  river 
Euphrates,  in  the  year  after  Christ,  980.  Again  (page  207),  it  is 
written  that  in  the  vear   1620  Paulinian  baptized  in  the  river 


82  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Trentho,  at  the  south  side  of  the  city  ot  Truvolsinga,  and  that 
the  ancients  called  this  baptism  immersion  or  dipping  into  water 
(page  220)  ;  and  that  the  English  baptized  in  the  rivers  Swallow 
and  Rhine,  and  that  it  could  be  done  in  no  other  manner. 

In  Rom.  6 :  4  baptism  is  called  a  burial  of  the  body  of  sin.  Paul 
calls  it  a  washing  with  water.  Eph.  5 : 6.  And  Christ  says 
(John  3:5)  a  man  must  "be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit." 
The  primitive  Christians  had  these  words  of  baptism,  namely: 
"The  fleshly-minded  children  of  Adam  stepped  into  the  water, 
and  soon  after  arose  therefrom,  that  is,  after  they  became  the 
spiritual  children  of  God."  Justinius  himself  gave  an  account 
to  the  emperor,  that  those  who  believed  in  our  doctrines,  promis- 
ing to  live  in  the  grace  of  God  up  to  its  import,  these  we 
instruct  to  pray,  fast,  and  obtain  from  God  forgiveness  of  sins. 
Afterwards  they  are  led  to  the  water,  and  converted  as  we  are ; 
then  they  are  washed  therein  in  the  name  of  God  the  Father,  and 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  further  adds  that 
this  was  enjoined  upon  us  from  the  apostles.  With  respect  to 
this,  Beda  says  (Lib.  2,  c.  14)  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  first 
congregations,  the  English  in  several  places  were  immersed  in 
rivers  of  water.  Walfred  Strabo  writes  in  his  Lib.  de  Rebus 
Eccles,  c.  26,  that  the  faithful  originally  were  baptized  in  streams 
and  fountains.  And  our  Saviour  Himself,  in  order  to  sanctify 
this  bath  for  our  use,  was  baptized  in  Jordan.  John  baptized 
at  "Aenon  near  Salim,  because  there  was  much  water  there." 
John  3  :  23.  Hononus  Aug.  writes  in  Gemma  Anima,  Lib.  3  :  106, 
that  the  apostles  and  their  disciples  formerly  baptized  in  streams 
and  fountains.  Tertullian  mentions  in  his  Lib.  de  Bonona  Mil- 
itas,  that  the  baptized,  some  time  previous,  avow  before  the  con- 
gregation and  preacher,  to  renounce  the  devil,  his  pomp,  and 
angels ;  after  which  they  are  plunged  under  the  water  three  times, 
and  baptized.  This  custom  prevailed  until  801,  when  Ludovicus 
was  made  emperor,  a.  d.  815. 

Some  say  that  to  go  into  water  is  plainly  commanded  in  Scrip- 
tures;  but  how  baptism  is  to  be  performed  there  is  not  known. 
Would  Jesus,  the  Master,  command  His  people  to  perform  such 


mack's   book.  83 

an  important  act  as  baptism,  and  yet  not  fully  instruct  them  as  to 
the  manner  of  performing  it?  If  so,  they  certainly  would  have 
occasion  to  ask  information,  or  delay  its  performance  rather  than 
to  undertake  it  in  uncertainty.  What  must  be  the  condition  of 
persons  who  would  administer  the  ordinances  of  the  house  of 
God,  and  yet  uncertain  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they  should  be 
performed?  It  is  a  mystery  to  me  to  know  how  men  claim  to 
sprinkle,  or  wet  the  head  with  a  handful  of  water,  and  call  it  bap- 
tism. There  is  not  a  single  passage  of  Scripture  in  its  favor,  and 
nothing  that  would  suggest  it. 

Christ  and  His  apostles  and  the  primitive  Christians  baptized 
in  streams,  rivers,  and  fountains.  Baptizing  agreeably  to  the 
commandment  signifies  nothing  else  than  immersing  in  water,  for 
Christ  said  to  His  apostles,  'Teach  all  nations,  and  baptize  them" 
(immerse  them),  and  not  wetting  their  hair  as  is  done  among 
Papists.  Matt.  28 :  19.  Jesus  did  not  say  baptize  the  head  or 
any  part  of  his  body,  nor  moisten  him  a  little  in  My  name.  No 
commandment  was  given  by  Jesus,  except  that  of  immersing  the 
whole  body  in  water.  The  true  signification  of  baptism  relates 
to  the  new  man,  which,  to  be  represented  in  its  true  light,  must 
correspond  exactly  with  its  nature. 

OF  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 

This  ordinance  is  called  the  Lord's  Supper,  because  His  dis- 
ciples, for  whose  remembrance  it  was  instituted,  thereby 
announce  His  death,  break  the  bread  of  the  communion,  drink 
the  cup,  unite  in  love  as  the  members  of  Jesus,  to  be  always  faith- 
ful to  their  Master  in  the  true  obedience  of  faith,  and  continue 
firm  under  the  cross,  to  be  fully  capable  in  the  end  of  the  world  of 
keeping,  with  the  Son  of  God,  this  supper  in  its  fullest  extent. 

Are  no  others  to  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper  but  such 
as  are  the  true  followers  of  Jesus,  who  keep  His  command- 
ments, and  bear  His  cross? 

Christ  gave  this  commandment  to  such  as  were  His  servants, 
who  entered  His  kingdom  by  true  repentance,  faith  and  bap- 
tism, and  who  kept  all  His  ordinances  in  the  obedience  of  faith. 


84  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Something  similar  to  this  God  commanded  in  the  law,  that  who- 
ever would  eat  the  Passover  of  the  Lord  must  previously  be  cir- 
cumcised. Ex.  12:48.  Therefore,  whosoever  would  worthily 
partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  should  be  cut  off  from  the  body  of 
Satan,  the  world,  all  unrighteousness,  and  all  false  sects.  He 
must  adhere  to  Jesus,  the  head,  as  a  true  member  in  faith  and 
love,  and  if  required,  according  to  the  will  of  God,  in  an  evangel- 
ical sense,  must  be  ready  to  yield  up  his  life  for  the  sake  of  Jesus 
and  His  doctrine.  But  he  that  lives  in  sin  and  disobedience 
towards  God,  and  will  not  follow  Christ  consistent  with  the 
instructions  of  Jesus,  in  the  denial  of  his  own  self,  and  every- 
thing belonging  to  this  world  (Luke  14:  26,  27),  is  still  unworthy, 
and  eateth  and  drinketh  damnation  to  himself,  not  discerning  the 
body  of  the  Lord  from  the  body  of  sin.     1  Cor.  1 1  :  29. 

The  true  believers  and  lovers  of  Jesus  always  have  their  eye 
singly  directed  to  their  Lord  and  Master.  They  wish  to  obey  all 
His  commands,  and  imitate  His  example.  Then  they  can  only 
be  said  to  be  sensible  of  the  simplicity  and  will  of  their  Master  in 
every  particular ;  as  it  is  called  in  the  Scriptures  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per (1  Cor.  11:20),  which  the  faithful  Christians  kept  at  that 
time  in  the  manner  Paul  instructed  them,  as  it  is  said  in  verse  I. 
And  he  delivered  to  the  Corinthians  that  which  he  received  of 
the  Lord.  Verse  23.  Thus,  they  then  truly  kept  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and,  according  to  plain  reason  alone,  it  was  a  supper,  and 
not  a  dinner.  Even  as  early  as  the  days  of  Paul,  people  supped 
together,  but  he  said  they  did  not  eat  the  Lord's  Supper.  1  Cor. 
1 1  :  20.  But  when  believers  met  with  one  accord  to  eat  the  sup- 
per, they  were  not  inattentive  to  the  injunction  of  the  Lord  in 
washing  their  feet,  agreeably  to  the  example  which  He  set  them. 
John  13:14,  15.  So,  likewise,  when  they  were  breaking  the 
bread  of  the  communion,  and  drinking  the  cup,  they  spake  of  the 
sufferings  of  Christ,  praised  His  great  love  towards  them,  and 
exhorted  each  other  to  be  firm  in  their  sufferings,  to  follow  and 
be  faithful  to  their  Lord  and  Master  in  all  His  commandments, 
strongly  to  resist  all  sin,  fervently  to  love  each  other,  and  live 
together  in  peace  and  unity;  and  this  alone  can  be  called  the 


mack's  book.  85 

Lord's  Supper.  In  this  manner  they  can  properly  enjoy  and  com- 
fort themselves  in  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  By  this  they  mani- 
fest that  they  are  members  of  Christ,  and  in  the  end  of  the  world, 
will  keep  with  Him  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  the  enjoyment  of  eternal 
felicity.  Of  this  supper,  says  Paul,  "For  he  that  eateth  and 
drinketh  unworthily,  eateth  and  drinketh  damnation  to  himself, 
not  discerning  the  Lord's  body."  But  where  people  eat  a  break- 
fast or  dinner,  and  that  without  true  repentance,  faith  in  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord  and  being  baptized,  and  still  love 
wickedness,  the  lusts  of  the  eye,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the 
pride  of  life,  and  live  in  envy,  hatred,  debauchery,  etc.,  it  can  not 
be  called  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  a  substitute,  dictated  and  con- 
firmed by  the  false  doctrine  of  the  learned,  and  long  continued 
custom  of  the  unguarded.  Every  one  who  imagines  that  he  thus 
truly  keeps  the  Lord's  Supper,  is  greatly  mistaken. 

OF  EXCOMMUNICATION. 

Persons  guilty  of  even  one  work  of  the  flesh  (as  Paul  writes, 
Gal.  5:3),  and  refusing  repentance  after  suitable  admonition,  are 
not  only  to  be  excluded  from  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  from  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  consequently  from  the  church  of  the  Lord, 
for  as  they  are  excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  God  by  their  sins, 
they  can  not  expect  to  belong  to  the  church  of  God. 

Since  a  man  has  to  give  account  of  himself,  what  harm  would 
it  be  to  me  if  any  of  my  fellow-members  were  guilty  of  a  sin,  and 
I  were  to  tell  him  candidly  to  alter  his  course  of  life,  might  I  not 
still  remain  his  associate,  though  he  were  to  continue  in  sin  and 
suffer  him  to  settle  that  in  his  own  account?  Such  a  procedure 
might  make  a  fair  appearance  of  love,  but  is  only  a  pretense,  and 
does  not  correspond  with  the  love  of  God.  Divine  love  must 
work  in  accordance  with  the  mind  of  God,  and  according  to  the 
command  of  God,  just  as  a  man  can  not  believe,  except  as  God 
has  commanded  him  to  believe.  The  love  of  God  can  not  be 
known  by  the  feelings  of  men,  but  by  inspiration  and  revelation 
of  God.  The  man  in  whom  the  love  of  God  really  exists,  looks 
to  the  Lord  and  learns  of  Him  His  attributes  and  nature.     To 


86  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

apply  this  to  the  above,  the  children  of  God  have  learned  of  their 
heavenly  Father,  to  distinguish  between,  and  separate  the  clean 
and  unclean,  light  and  darkness,  His  people  and  the  heathen.     As 
may  be  seen  in  the  creation,  when  God  made  heaven  and  earth, 
light,  darkness,  earth  and  water  having  all  been  mixed  together, 
He  divided  the  light  from  darkness,  and  called  the  former  day, 
and  the  latter  night.     After  the  planting  of  Paradise,  which  con- 
tained everything  pleasant,  God  also  created  man  after  His  own 
image,  and  suffered  him  to  live  in  the  garden,  to  eat  of  the  fruit 
of  all  the  trees  which  God  commanded  him  to  eat.     But  as  soon 
as  man  proved  to  be  disobedient  towards  God,  he  became  unclean, 
and,  as  such,  he  could  no  longer  remain  in  Paradise,  but  was 
expelled  therefrom,  and  until  he  be  purified  by  Christ,  the  second 
Adam  can  not  again  be  permitted  to   return.     Many   hundred 
years  elapsed  until  this  return  was  effected  by  Christ,  the  prom- 
ised seed  of  the  woman ;  and  with  Adam  many  saints  were  con- 
ducted by  Him  into  His  kingdom.     Matt.  27 :  52.     Thus  we  may 
learn  how  sin  and  disobedience  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God 
and  His  kingdom.     God  manifested  to  Abraham,  as  the  father 
of  all  believers,  a  distinction  and  separation,  that  his  offspring 
should  be  a  separate  nation  from  that  of  the  heathen,  which  he 
conducted  by  a  mighty  hand  from  Egypt,  and  promised  to  give 
them  an  holy  land.     To  this  nation,  in  the  wilderness,  the  Lord 
God,  upon  Mount  Sinai,  gave  a  peculiar  law,  with  the  intention 
that  they  should  not  only  be  a  separate  people  from  all  unclean 
heathens,  but  even  from  all  unclean  beasts,   fishes,  and  birds ; 
therefore,  God  said  to  them  (Lev.  20:24-26)  :  "I  am  the  Lord 
your  God  who  have  separated  you  from  other  people ;  ye  shall 
therefore  put  difference  between  clean  beasts  and  unclean,  and 
between  unclean  fowls    and  clean ;  and  ye  shall  not  make  your 
souls  abominable  by  beast,  or  by  fowl,  or  by  any  manner  of  liv- 
ing thing  that  creepeth  on  the  ground,  which  I  have  separated 
from  you  as  unclean,  and  ye  shall  be  holy  unto  Me;  for  I  the 
Lord  am  holy,  and  have  severed  you  from  other  people,  that  ye 
should  be  Mine."     Observe  how  God  manifested  His  will  in  the 
separation  of  the  clean  from  the  unclean,  the  Lord's  people  from 


mack's  book.  87 

the  heathens,  who  were  equally  the  creatures  of  God,  but  were 
not  to  have  any  share  and  communion  with  His  people. 

The  discourses  of  Jesus  and  His  apostles  also  require  a  sepa- 
ration in  the  new  covenant  between  the  believer  and  unbeliever. 
Jesus  (Matt.  13:24)  compares  the  present  world  to  a  field  con- 
taining seeds,  both  good  and  bad.  The  good  are  sowed  by  Jesus, 
through  His  gospel,  and  these  are  the  children  of  His  kingdom, 
born  from  above  by  "the  word  of  truth."  James  1 :  18.  But  the 
tares  are  the  bad,  sowed  by  the  devil,  and  are  planted  by  his  false 
and  sophistical  word.  Now,  the  harvest  of  these  is  in  the  end 
of  the  world.  There  the  Lord  thereof  will  gather  the  good  seed 
into  His  barn,  but  the  tares  He  will  burn  with  unquenchable  fire. 
Notice  carefully  the  relation  of  excommunication  in  the  Old 
Testament,  as  commanded  by  Moses,  as  a  testimony  for  the  new 
covenant.  Heb.  3:5,  6.  For  as  there  was  no  uncircumcised, 
no  leprous  nor  unclean  person  admitted  into  the  temple,  such  an 
house  or  community  was  instituted  by  the  Son  of  God,  by  His 
death,  and  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  temple,  in  the  New  Testa-  ■ 
ment,  is  called  "the  body  of  Christ."  Rom.  12:5;  1  Cor.  12 :  27 ; 
Eph.  1 :  22,  23  ;  4 :  12  ;  5  :  23  ;  Col.  1 :  18.  Into  this  body,  temple, 
or  community,  all  the  members  of  Jesus  are  embodied  and  bap- 
tized. 1  Cor.  12  :  13.  "For  by  one  Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into 
one  body."  This  body  is  sanctified  and  cleansed  by  Christ,  "with 
the  washing  of  water,  by  the  Word."  Eph.  5 :  26.  It  is  sepa- 
rated from  the  world,  from  the  whole  house  of  the  old  Adam, 
according  to  the  inward  part,  by  faith.  This  community  in  the 
Scriptures  is  called  the  "chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood, 
an  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people."  1  Peter  2:9.  As  this  body, 
according  to  Rom.  6 :  2-4,  is  dead  to  sin,  buried  by  baptism  into, 
and  raised  again  to  the  newness  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  in 
whom  it  continues  and  grows  like  a  fruitful  branch  in  this  evil 
world,  so,  by  divine  permission,  Satan  may  tempt  every  member 
to  sin,  for  the  trial  of  its  faith  and  love.  Jesus  and  His  apostles, 
therefore,  call  upon  the  faithful  to  watch  and  pray,  to  wrestle 
and  be  vigilant.  Nevertheless,  it  is  an  easy  matter  for  such  a 
member,  who  hath  renounced  sin  and  put  on  Christ,  as  the  new 


88  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

life,  unless  he  continue  constantly  in  prayers,  again  to  transgress 
against  his  fellow-members,  or  even  against  the  commandments 
of  the  Lord.  Thus  says  the  Lord  (Matt.  18:15):  "If  thy 
brother  shall  trespass  against  thee,  go  and  tell  him  his  fault 
between  thee  and  him  alone.  If  he  shall  hear  thee,  thou  hast 
gained  thy  brother.  But  if  he  will  not  hear  thee,  then  take  with 
thee  one  or  two  more,  that  in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses 
every  word  may  be  established.  And  if  he  shall  neglect  to  hear 
them,  tell  it  unto  the  church.  But  if  he  neglect  to  hear  the 
church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  an  heathen  man  and  a  publican." 
Thus  we  see  who  is  the  author  of  excommunication  in  the  New 
Testament,  namely,  Jesus  Christ,  the  Lord  and  Master. 

It  was  so  ordered  for  the  purpose  of  such  persons  whose  sins 
may  be  forgiven  without  its  being  executed,  provided  they  will 
obey  the  good  admonition.  If  not,  they  are  banished  from  the 
church,  not  for  the  sake  of  their  sins,  but  for  pride  and  obstinacy  ; 
because  they  reject  the  counsel  of  God's  Spirit,  despise  and  grieve 
the  whole  congregation,  when  it  would  have  been  their  duty 
rather  to  die  for  their  fellow-members  than  vex  them,  or  despise 
their  good  counsel.  Such  characters  are  taken  notice  of  under 
the  law  (Num.  19:  13)  :  "Whosoever  toucheth  the  dead  body  of 
any  man  that  is  dead  [which  is  a  trifling  act],  and  purifieth  not 
himself,  defileth  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord,  and  that  soul  shall 
be  cut  off  from  Israel,"  etc.  The  water  of  separation,  which  was 
used  in  the  law  for  the  purpose  of  cleansing  the  unclean,  refers 
in  the  new  covenant  to  brotherly  admonition.  If,  for  instance,  a 
member  transgresses,  is  guilty  of  sin,  and  despises  counsel, 
becomes  hardened  by  the  delusion  of  sin,  Paul  exhorts  the  faithful 
(Heb.  3  :i3,  14)  :  "Take  heed  lest  any  of  you  be  hardened  through 
the  deceitfulness  of  sin.  For  we  are  made  partakers  of  Christ, 
if  we  hold  the  beginning  of  our  confidence  steadfast  unto  the 
end."  That  is,  we  become  the  partakers  of  newness  of  life,  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Let  us  but  remain  firm  in  it  until  the  end,  and  not 
wander  from  the  true  life  in  Christ  and  the  living  God,  by  the 
old  way  of  sinful  living. 

We  should  always  endeavor  to  learn  the  teachings  of  the  Spirit 


mack's   book.  89 

of  God.  He  is  the  best  counselor,  who  foresaw  everything,  and 
therefore  subjected  His  house  to  very  wise  regulations.  As  early 
as  the  law  of  Moses  (Num.  15:27-31),  God  commanded  that 
if  any  soul,  or  the  whole  congregation,  should  sin,  through 
ignorance  against  any  commandment,  then  he  shall  bring  unto 
the  Lord  a  sin-offering,  "and  it  shall  be  forgiven."  "But  the 
soul  that  doeth  aught  presumptuously,  the  same  reproacheth  the 
Lord ;  and  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  His  people. 
Because  he  hath  despised  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  hath  broken 
His  commandment,  that  soul  shall  utterly  be  cut  off ;  his  iniquity 
shall  be  upon  him."  Thus,  should  a  whole  congregation,  or  city, 
sin  in  this  manner,  and  serve  other  gods,  that  is,  commit  such 
things,  which  are  forbidden  by  the  Lord,  it  shall  be  utterly 
destroyed.     Deut.  13:  12. 

So  now  let  us  observe  how  this  must  in  a  spiritual  manner  be 
attended  to  by  the  church  of  God,  in  the  New  Testament,  so 
that  the  church  may  not  be  prevailed  upon  by  the  gates  of  hell, 
that  is,  by  sinful  actions.  Every  member  of  the  Lord's  body 
knows  that  he  is  "buried  with  Him  by  baptism  into  death"  (Rom. 
6:4),  and  that  he  "should  walk  in  newness  of  life."  He  is  called 
upon  at  his  baptism  to  renounce  all  sin,  the  devil,  and  his  own 
corrupt  will,  and  to  follow  the  Lord  Jesus  until  death,  and  in  His 
commandments.  "The  works  of  the  flesh  are  manifest,  which  are 
these:  adultery,  fornication,  uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry, 
witchcraft,  hatred,  variance,  emulations,  wrath,  strife,  seditions, 
heresies,  envyings,  murders,  drunkenness,  revelings,  and  such 
like."  Gal.  5  :  19-21.  To  all  such  the  kingdom  of  God  is  utterly 
denied  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  is,  if  any  one  of  these  evil  prac- 
tises rules  or  reigns  over  them.  Thus,  if  in  the  Lord's  body  a 
member  be  guilty  of  such,  and  the  church  have  knowledge  of  it, 
he  must  be  excommunicated,  according  to  1  Cor.  5:13,  until  he 
shall  be  purified  by  true  repentance,  that  the  whole  body  thereby 
may  not  become  unclean.  How  wicked  and  corrupt  must  such  a 
member  have  become  who  would  justify  himself  in  his  sinful 
life! 


90  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

OF  VARIANCE. 

This  spirit  tempts  persons  who  are  not  sufficiently  instructed 
in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  similar  to  the  serpent  who  spoke  to  Eve 
in  Paradise :  "Ye  shall  not  surely  die,  for  God  doth  know  that 
in  the  day  ye  eat  thereof,  then  your  eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye 
shall  be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil ;"  which  in  part  so  hap- 
pened ;  for  as  soon  as  they  had  eaten  thereof,  their  eyes  "were 
opened,  and  they  knew  that  they  were  naked."  Gen.  3:1-7. 
Therefore,  Paul  calls  upon  the  Corinthians :  "But  I  fear,  lest  by 
any  means,  as  the  serpent  beguiled  Eve  through  his  subtility,  so 
your  minds  should  be  corrupted  from  the  simplicity  that  is  in 
Christ."  2  Cor.  11:3.  As  long  as  a  member  of  the  body  con- 
tinues in  this  conflict,  "bringing  into  captivity  every  thought  to 
the  obedience  of  Christ,"  and  "casting  down  imaginations,  and 
every  high  thing  that  exalteth  itself  against  the  knowledge  of  God" 
(2  Cor.  10:  5,  6),  so  long  the  spirit  of  discord  can  not  bring  the 
soul  into  captivity.  His  living  with  his  fellow-members  in  sim- 
plicity, obedience  of  faith,  peace,  and  unity,  he  continues  with 
them,  submitting  willingly,  peaceably,  and  simply  to  them  what 
he  does  not  understand,  according  to  the  advice  of  Peter.  1  Peter 
5:5.  But  the  moment  the  spirit  of  discord  prevails,  they  grad- 
ually separate  themselves  from  the  peace  and  love  of  their  fellow- 
members.  They  take  offense  at  trifling  occurrences,  until,  by 
degrees,  they  lose  the  grace  of  faith.  To  them,  idle  and  profane 
conversation  is  more  delightful  than  an  affectionate  address  of 
their  fellow-members  respecting  their  conduct.  They  refuse  to 
listen  to  the  fraternal  admonition  of  their  brethren,  and  give  place 
to  the  deceitful  spirit,  who,  like  Lucifer,  transformed  into  an 
angel  of  light,  persuades  them  to  criticize  the  defects  of  their 
fellow-members,  to  be  offended  at  them,  and  finally  become  their 
own  masters,  and  thereby  bring  about  a  separate  party  or  organi- 
zation. Such  proceeding  is  called  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  "sedition 
and  heresies."  '  It  is  a  manifest  work  of  the  flesh,  not  belonging 
to  the  kingdom  of  God,  neither  to  the  house  of  the  Lord,  but  to 
the  kingdom  of  the  world.     Division  has  always  been  the  begin- 


MACK  S     BOOK.  91 

ning  of  evil,  and  where  it  exists  there  no  family  can  prosper,  much 
less  the  church.  True  believers,  therefore,  must  avoid  such  per- 
sons, who,  in  this  manner  give  offense  or  cause  division,  accord- 
ing to  the  instructions  of  Paul.  Rom.  17:17.  They  are  the 
works  of  the  flesh,  originating  in  a  fleshly  mind,  even  though  the 
fleshly  person  committing  them  disguises  himself  under  colors 
of  angelic  humility.  Col.  2:  18.  Paul,  too,  calls  them  heretics, 
who  are  to  be  rejected.     Titus  3  :  10. 

WHO    IS   QUALIFIED   TO    CONDUCT   THE   EXCOMMUNICATION? 

Salvation  is  promised  only  to  the  faithful.  Whosoever  believes 
in  the  Son  of  God,  shall  have  eternal  life  ;  but  they  that  believe 
not,  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  them.  Observe,  also,  the  nature 
of  faith,  as  defined  by  the  Son  of  God  (Mark  16:  17,  18)  :  "And 
these  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe.  In  My  name  [that  is, 
by  His  doctrine,  word,  and  commandments]  shall  they  cast  out 
devils ;"  first  out  of  themselves,  and  then  out  of  them  who  believe 
in  Him,  and  by  their  word  are  converted.  "They  shall  speak 
with  new  tongues :  they  shall  take  up  serpents ;  and  if  they  drink 
any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt  them.  They  shall  lay  hands 
on  the  sick,  and  they  shall  recover."  To  such  believers  eternal 
life  is  promised,  and  they  are  commanded  by  Christ  to  expel 
from  their  congregations  such  sinful,  offensive  persons ;  and 
what  they  bind  upon  earth,  will  be  bound  in  heaven ;  and  what 
they  loose  upon  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven.  Such  believers 
carry  into  effect  the  laws  and  regulations  of  their  Lord  and  Mas- 
ter, although  rejected  for  such  conduct  by  the  wicked.  Faithful 
members  may  err  and  sin  through  weakness,  but  they  never  do 
so  intentionally,  and  are  always  very  sorry  for  the  act.  They 
are  such  who  mourn  for  their  frailty,  and  if  reminded  by  their 
brethren,  they  greatly  delight  in  hearing  them,  and  take  correc- 
tion whenever  they  err.  They  are  such  of  whom  John  says,  "My 
little  children,  if  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the 
Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous."  1  John  2 :  1.  They  are  in 
a  continual  warfare  against  sin,  and  constantly  mortify  the  sinful 
members   of  their  mortal  bodies.     Thev   would   even   rather  be 


92  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

excluded  from  the  congregation  of  the  Lord  than  transgress  and 
not  repent  when  reprove^.  Such  persons  can  assist,  with  a  good 
conscience,  in  excommunicating  and  withdrawing  from  their  most 
beloved  brethren  for  transgression  and  not  accepting  their  affec- 
tionate corrections,  because  they  have  already  banished  from 
themselves  this  mind  and  spirit  of  the  Christians.  Such  believers 
can  say  with  John  ( I  John  4:6),  ''We  are  of  God ;  he  that  know- 
eth  God  heareth  us  ;  he  that  is  not  of  God  heareth  not  us.  Hereby 
know  we  the  spirit  of  truth  and  the  spirit  of  error."  Thus,  with  a 
good  conscience,  can  they  reject  from  their  society  a  member  who 
is  insensible  to  their  affectionate  corrections  and  instructions. 
For  if  a  member  transgresses  and  refuses  all  correction,  it  is  a 
sin  unto  death,  for  which  we  are  not  commanded  to  pray,  as  John 
savs.  1  John  5:16.  Hereby  we  may  discover  the  great  differ- 
ence in  sinning;  for  if  two  persons  commit  the  same  sin,  one  of 
them  may  be  lost  and  the  other  saved,  as  was  the  case  with  the 
two  criminals  crucified  with  Jesus.  The  one  entered  into  Para- 
dise wTith  Christ,  because  he  acknowledged  his  sins,  and  believed 
in  Him.  The  same  may  be  the  case  in  a  congregation  where  two 
members  sin  alike ;  the  one  hears,  repents,  and  obtains  forgive- 
ness ;  the  other,  not  able  to  bear  correction,  becomes  hardened  in 
pride  and  self-love,  and  will  be  lost.  There  is  a  great  difference 
in  committing  sins,  for  which  purpose  David  said,  "Blessed  is  the 
man  unto  whom  the  Lord  imputeth  not  iniquity,  and  in  whose 
spirit  there  is  no  guile."  Ps.  32 :  2.  Sincere  Christians,  after 
erring  inconsiderately,  easily  repent  when  reproved  by  their  fel- 
low-members. Of  these  James  speaks :  "For  in  many  things  we 
offend  all."  James  3  :  2.  "There  is  therefore  now  no  condemna- 
tion to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the 
flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit."  Rom.  8:1.  "Whosoever  is  born  of 
God,  doth  not  commit  sin ;  for  his  seed  remaineth  in  him ;  and  he 
can  not  sin,  because  he  is  born  of  God."  1  John  3  :  9.  Such  par- 
doned believers  are  in  daily  warfare  against  sin ;  and  between 
them  and  the  serpent  there  is  a  continual  enmity.  They  feel  its 
bruises,  but  its  dominion  is  destroyed.  Therefore,  the  faithful, 
as  long  as  they  live  in  the  state  of  humility,  are  called  the  church 


MACKS     BOOK.  93 

militant;  but  they  shall  overcome  "by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.'' 
Rev.  12 :  11. 

But  some  have  told  me  that  they  were  happy,  and  could  not 
feel  its  effects.  Others  said  that  it  had  no  power,  because  they 
were  insensible  of  its  influence,  and  were  in  good  spirits.  Such 
poor  souls  must  have  been  deceived  by  the  subtlety  of  the  serpent, 
for  when  they  repented  and  believed  in  the  gospel  of  Christ,  they 
entered  the  church,  and  received  divine  ordinances,  and  assisted 
in  conducting  its  services.  They  believed  that  what  would  bind 
the  Lord's  community  upon  earth  will  bind  it  also  in  heaven.  But 
they  did  not  contend  for  the  faith  according  to  the  advice  of  the 
apostle  (Jude  5:3),  but  departed  from  it,  and  gave  heed  to 
seducing  spirits,  which  they  accepted  as  angels,  as  Paul  clearly 
writes  ( 1  Tim.  4:1);  and  they  harkened  to  them  because  they 
promised  them  liberty,  etc.  (2  Peter  2:  18,  19).  Thus  their  con- 
science becomes  seared,  and  they  may  continue  insensible  of  their 
condition  until  the  judgment.  They  may  even  speak  to  the  con- 
gregation of  the  Lord  in  a  haughty  tone,  "You  may  exclude  us  as 
you  please ;  God  still  will  receive  us  into  His  grace."  But  they 
who  have  been  excommunicated  for  their  sins,  and  still  continue 
in  the  faith,  are  sensible  of  their  state,  and  again  return  by  faith 
and  repentance.  How  great  is  the  blindness  of  those  who  find 
fault  with  a  congregation  for  avoiding  them !  They  are  insen- 
sible of  the  effect  of  excommunication,  and  contend  against  the 
church  of  the  Lord. 

God  Himself  subjects  the  greatest  part  of  mankind  to  a  state 
of  excommunication,  as  is  the  case  with  all  unconverted.  Unless 
they  are  born  again,  according  to  the  will  of  God,  they  are  the 
children  of  His  wrath,  which  waits  on  them  with  everlasting  pun- 
ishment, but  they  are  lively  and  in  good  spirits,  even  claiming, 
through  the  medium  of  false  doctrine,  hope  of  salvation.  Of 
such  Jesus  says  (Matt.  24:  38,  39),  "For  as  in  the  days  that  were 
before  the  flood  they  were  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  giv- 
ing in  marriage,"  etc  They  were  merry  "until  the  flood  came 
and  took  them  all  away."  They  cared  nothing  for  Noah's  preach- 
ing and  his  building  the  ark,  neither  did  they  believe,  but  mocked 


94  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

at  him.  Even  so  will  the  unconverted  be  in  the  days  of  "the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  man."  They  will  not  believe  their  condition 
to  be  so  bad,  because  they  possess  no  sense  of  the  divine  excom- 
munication, to  which  they  are  subjected.  Infidelity  has  hardened 
their  hearts,  like  Lot's  wife,  who  became  a  pillar  of  salt.  So,  also, 
will  those  who  turn  back  to  the  sinful  Sodom  have  no  faith  in  the 
gospel.  Peter  says  (2  Peter  2:21),  'Tor  it  had  been  better  for 
them  not  to  have  known  the  way  of  righteousness,  than  after  they 
have  known  it  to  turn  from  the  holy  commandment  delivered 
unto  them."  Observe  what  these  rejected  angels  did.  They  con- 
tended against  the  good  angels.  See  Jude  5-9;  Rev.  17:  17.  A 
contest  likewise  took  place  between  Satan  and  Christ.  Matt. 
4:  i-ii.  With  the  same  propriety  might  these  poor,  deluded 
people  say  to  God  that  His  excommunication  had  no  effect.  Do 
not  be  alarmed  because  those  who  depart  from  the  faith  and 
adhere  to  these  unruly  spirits  are  permitted  to  contend  against 
the  good — for  the  rejected  angels  were  permitted  by  God  to  con- 
tend against  the  good  angels — they  only  increase  their  damnation, 
and  prove  the  faithful  for  confirming  their  salvation.  Therefore, 
concern  thyself  little  about  other  people's  conversation,  for  com- 
monly it  is  of  a  profane  nature,  and  against  the  mind  of  God ; 
and  although  their  testimony  be  received  by  some,  the  testimony 
of  God  is  greater.  John  5 : 9.  For  God  has  borne  witness  of 
His  Son,  and  whosoever  believes  in  the  Son  has  the  witness 
within  himself,  which  is  more  certain  than  the  testimony  of  men, 
be  it  of  what  appearance  it  may. 

But  would  the  powers  that  be,  suffer  the  church  to  estab- 
lish such  tribunal  for  judging  and  excommunicating  their  mem- 
bers? Such  ordinance  can  not  be  against  the  will  and  intention 
of  earthly  government,  but  on  the  contrary,  is  exceedingly  bene- 
ficial to  it.  Paul  instructs  the  faithful  (Rom.  13  :  1-7),  that  every 
soul  shall  be  subject,  for  the  Lord's  sake,  to  human  regulations, 
made  by  their  rulers,  and  render  them  tribute,  custom,  fear,  and 
honor;  for  all  magistrates  are  ordained  by  God  to  punish  evil- 
doers and  defend  the  good,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  correspond 
with  the  will  of  God.     In  such  of  their  subjects,  therefore,  they 


mack's   book.  95 

should  take  great  delight,  especially  if  they  walk  in  the  fear  of 
God,  suffer  among  themselves  no  transgressors,  and  give  their 
rulers  their  dues,  as  well  as  the  Lord  ;  for  the  Lord  hath  prom- 
ised a  time  when  "kings  shall  be  nursing  fathers"  to  His  people. 
Isa.  49 :  23. 

OF     TAKING     OATHS. 

It  is  much  better  for  men,  and  more  in  accordance  with  the 
teachings  of  Christ,  that  the  faithful  should  affirm  with  yea  what 
is  so,  and  with  nay  what  is  not  so,  than  to  take  many  oaths,  which 
are  frequently  not  kept  sacred.  More  peace  and  safety  exist  in 
a  government  where  the  subjects,  in  the  fear  of  God,  tell  the 
truth  with  yea  and  nay,  and  adhere  to  it,  than  the  oaths  of  those 
in  whom  no  confidence  can  be  placed. 


SELF-EXAMINATION. 


Men  are  so  apt  to  act  upon,  and  even  to  judge  and  condemn,  a 
thing  which  they  do  not  understand,  according  to  their  carnal 
minds,  instead  of  learning  the  mind  and  will  of  God  in  the  case. 
Above  everything  else,  men  should  strive  to  learn  the  will  of  God 
when  they  are  about  to  execute  judgment  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord ;  and  it  is  a  source  of  comfort  to  know  that  He  has  not  left 
us  in  the  dark,  but  has  plainly  revealed  His  will  by  the  manner 
of  His  dealing  with  His  people  in  the  old  dispensation.  They 
dare  not  pretend  to  be  wiser,  and  although  they  be  taken  by  men 
for  fools,  they  must  act  agreeable  to  the  model  of  divine  wisdom. 
Paul  says  (1  Cor.  3:  18,  19)  :  "If  any  man  among  you  seemeth 
to  be  wise  in  this  world,  let  him  become  a  fool  that  he  may  be 
wise.  For  the  wisdom  of  this  world  is  foolishness  with  God." 
Now,  as  the  faithful  in  all  things  must  look  to  God,  they  should 
do  so  in  the  trial  of  their  brethren.  When  the  Lord  wished  to 
prove  a  person  or  a  nation,  He  gave  them  His  laws  and  com- 
mandments, and  by  these  they  were  fully  proved.  Such  always 
has  been  the  manner  of  divine  wisdom,  and  still  is.  Sirach  4:19; 
6 :  22.  Even  Adam  had  to  be  tried  after  he  was  placed  in  Para- 
dise, and  his  trial  was  for  the  purpose  of  showing  whether  or  not 


96  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

he  would  eat  of  the  forbidden  fruit.  Noah  was  tried  in  his  failli 
in  building  and  entering  the  ark.  Even  Abraham,  the  father  of 
all  believers,  had  to  undergo  the  severest  trial.  He  had  to  leave 
his  mother  country,  go  through  the  ceremony  of  circumcision ; 
and  what  was  still  greater,  was  commanded  to  sacrifice  his  only 
son,  Isaac.  Gen.  12:  1  ;  22:  1,  2.  And  God  fully  tried  the  seed 
of  Abraham  in  Egypt ;  and  after  having  been  led  into  the  wilder- 
ness by  a  mighty  hand,  He  began  to  humble  and  prove  them,  even 
after  they  had  the  promise  of  the  holy  land,  to  know  what  was 
in  their  hearts,  whether  or  not  they  were  willing  to  keep  His  com- 
mandments. Deut.  8:2.  In  this  trying  wilderness  most  of  them 
were  destroyed  for  their  unbelief,  with  whom  God  was  not  well 
pleased,  although  they  had  been  "baptized  unto  Moses  in  the 
cloud  and  in  the  sea ;  and  did  all  eat  the  same  spiritual  meat,"  the 
food  of  angels  (Ps.  78:  25),  "and  did  all  drink  of  the  same  spir- 
itual drink ;  for  they  drank  of  that  spiritual  Rock  that  followed 
them,  and  that  Rock  was  Christ."  1  Cor.  10:3,  4-  But  they 
did  not  hold  out  in  their  trial.  God  required  of  them  obedience  to 
His  commandments  and  laws. 

Now  let  us  observe  God's  intention  in  the  new  covenant. 
In  the  first  place,  we  read  of  no  trial  or  temptation  having 
occurred  to  the  Son  of  God  before  His  baptism  ;  but  as  soon  as 
this  was  performed  by  John  in  Jordan,  and  the  voice  from  heaven 
heard,  "This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased" 
(Matt.  3:  16,  17),  temptations  began.  Then  was  He  tempted  of 
the  devil,  and  by  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  ;  then  "learned  He 
obedience"  (Heb.  5:8),  "and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross."  Phil.  2:8.  In  the  same  manner  that  the 
Father  led  and  tried  His  Son,  so  does  the  Son  lead  His  followers. 
Hence  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  compared  to  a  net  that  gathered 
of  every  kind  of  fish,  but  the  bad  were  cast  away.  Matt. 
13:47,  48.  Jesus  calls  many  who,  through  faith  and  baptism, 
became  His  disciples  (John  4:1),  but  they  will  be  proven  by  the 
cross  and  made  perfect  by  His  doctrine.  Never  did  Jesus  prove 
any  man  without  His  gospel ;  but  all  that  came  to  Him  and 
believed  on  Him  He  received  as  disciples,  but  He  said  to  them, 


MACK  S     BOOK.  97 

"If  ye  continue  in  My  Word,  then  ye  are  My  disciples  indeed. 
And  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free." 
John  8:  31,  32.  Again,  He  said  to  His  apostles:  "If  ye  abide  in 
Me,  as  the  branch  does  in  the  vine,  ye  will  bring-  forth  much 
fruit ;  but  if  ye  will  not  abide  in  Me,  ye  will  be  cast  forth  as  a 
branch  and  be  withered."  John  15:4-6.  Such  a  spirit  must 
govern  the  church  of  Christ  that  if  a  man  will  repent,  and  pub- 
licly renounce  the  devil,  the  world,  and  all  its  sins,  and  acknowl- 
edge the  doctrines  of  Jesus,  it  is  their  duty  to  admit  him,  although 
there  be  no  certainty  that  he  will  continue  faithful  in  his  profes- 
sion, while  nothing  is  known  of  him  that  would  justify  the  con- 
gregation in  rejecting  him.  By  his  following  Jesus,  he  will  mani- 
fest whether  or  not  he  will  reject  His  gospel  as  the  way  of  life. 
Divine  wisdom  invites  everybody  to  come  to  her,  even  the  simple 
and  such  as  lack  understanding.  Prov  9:  1-4.  She  excludes  no 
man  who  will  accept  the  invitation  of  forsaking  the  way  of  fool- 
ishness and  accepting  the  way  of  understanding.  The  believer 
will  be  tried  in  the  house  of  God.  There  he  may  suffer  his  feet 
to  be  put  into  fetters,  and  his  neck  into  the  yoke.  If  then  he  does 
not  hold  out  faithful,  the  whole  blame  lies  upon  himself.  It  is 
God's  design  to  prove  men  in  keeping  His  commandments,  after 
they  have  entered  into  covenant  with  Him.  Otherwise  we  might 
say  that  God  in  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  did  not  prove  the 
inconstant,  previous  to  His  adopting  them  and  vouchsafing  to 
them  His  promises.  And  Jesus  might  be  accused  of  choosing 
disciples  who  proved  unfaithful.  "Why  did  He  not  select  all 
such  as  He  knew  would  continue  steadfast  ?"  for  it  is  written  that 
"many  of  His  disciples  went  back,  and  walked  no  more  with 
Him."  John  6 :  66.  Thus,  too,  we  might  accuse  all  the  apostles 
for  making  disciples  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  of  whom 
many  became  apostates  in  different  ways. 

Please  consider  the  following  illustration :  If  two  persons  loved 
each  other,  and  proposed  to  enter  into  matrimony,  when  can  they 
best  try  each  other,  before  or  after  marriage?  Before,  they  are 
free  from  the  burden  of  the  family.  The  woman  is  not  under  the 
necessity  of  obeying  the  man,  and  the  man  is  free  from  the  cares 


98  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

and  infirmities  of  the  woman.  They  know  nothing  but  to  love. 
But  as  soon  as  they  enter  the  public  matrimonial  covenant  with 
each  other,  and  accept  family  relations,  then,  it  may  be  said, 
their  trial  begins.  Then  the  wife  dare  not  court  any  other  man. 
She  must  be  obedient  to  her  own  husband.  Then  the  husband 
will  discover  her  weakness.  Then  the  intensity  of  conjugal  affec- 
tion will  subside,  and  if  they  hope  to  enjoy  peace,  they  must  seek 
divine  love  and  guidance.  Then  an  ever-enduring  affection  will 
be  required,  one  that  will  abide  until  death,  in  prosperity  and 
adversity.  They  dare  not  separate  from  each  other  until  death 
parts  them.  This,  then,  is  the  state  of  matrimony  among 
believers,  which  represents  Christ  and  His  church.     Eph.  5 :  32. 

People  of  the  world  make  love  with  one  person,  then  they  will 
seek  and  woo  another,  and  are  very  inconstant.  They  will  also 
find  fault  with  the  conduct  of  married  people,  and  imagine  that 
they  could  lead  a  better  life  and  show  a  better  example.  How- 
ever, when  they  enter  the  state  of  matrimony  they  will  discover 
that  in  the  family  only  can  they  learn  how  to  conduct  a  family. 
And,  too,  many  become  adulterers,  as  they  do  not  have  love  and 
patience  enough  to  remain  steadfast  unto  the  end. 

Apply  this  case  to  spiritual  matters.  Many  persons  have  been 
awakened  and  have  been  led  to  forsake  the  great  whore, — have 
come  out  of  Babylon,  and  have  made  numerous  efforts  to  woo 
the  gospel  of  Christ.  One  will  take  a  passage  out  of  the  New 
Testament  here  and  another  there,  with  which  they  flatter  each 
other,  and  pretend  strong  affection  among  each  other,  calling 
each  other  brethren  and  sisters,  but  refuse  to  enter  a  bond  of 
Christian  fellowship,  or  to  be  baptized  "by  one  Spirit"  "into  one 
body."  1  Cor.  12:13.  Therefore,  they  take  liberty  to  adhere 
to  what  they  please,  one  to  one,  and  another  to  another  opinion, 
one  to  this  and  the  other  to  another  spirit,  thus  solacing  them- 
selves with  this  species  of  love,  so  that  the  saying  will  apply  very 
well  to  them  that  "love  covers  everything  and  makes  no  conten- 
tion," which  is  true,  for  the  flirtations  of  the  latitudinarian  cover 
everything  where  there  is  no  matrimonial  restraint,  no  sacred 
ties  with  Christ  and  His  church,  its  commandments  and  ordi- 


MACK  S    BOOK.  99 

nances.  Rom.  13:9.  Where  there  exists  a  true  union  between 
Christ  and  His  church,  there  will  be  no  dallying  with  the  world, 
but  instead  thereof  a  hatred  of  its  vanities  and  sinful  pleasures. 
Now  let  us  observe  the  criticism  and  unjust  remarks  of  those 
worldly  coquettes,  upon  those  who  have  entered  into  fellowship 
with  Christ.  They  speak  lightly  of  the  faithful  followers  of 
Christ  in  their  efforts  to  admonish  each  other  to  constancy  of 
life.  And  if  it  should  so  happen  that  one  of  their  number  should 
depart  from  the  faith  and  give  place  to  the  enemy  in  a  sinful 
and  wicked  life,  and  the  faithful  should  discipline  them  accord- 
ing to  the  gospel,  they  will  raise  a  great  cry  of  intolerance  and 
cruelty.  And  the  expelled  member  will  invariably  attach  him- 
self to  those  courtiers,  and  unite  with  them  in  the  exercise  of  their 
indiscriminate  affections.  They  want  unlimited  freedom  of  mind 
and  spirit ;  and  such,  indeed,  they  do  possess,  for  they  are  out  of 
the  church  of  God,  out  of  His  kingdom,  where  there  is  no 
restraint.  But  in  the  church  of  God  there  is  order,  for  God  is 
a  God  of  order,  peace,  and  love.  All  have  but  one  mind  and  one 
will,  and  that  is  the  will  of  God.  The  angels  of  heaven  are 
governed  by  the  will  of  God,  and  when  they  entertained  any  other 
will,  they  were  speedily  "cast  down  to  hell,  and  delivered  into 
chains  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto  judgment."     2  Peter  2 :  4. 

Herein  we  discern  the  nature  of  the  love  of  God,  and  His  own 
method  of  its  application  to  offenders,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  all 
His  faithful  followers  to  be  of  the  same  mind,  and  to  make  the 
same  application.  Let  us  hear  His  word  (Matt.  18:  19)  :  "And 
if  thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out,  and  cast  it  from  thee.  It 
is  better  for  thee  to  enter  into  life  with  one  eye,  rather  than 
having  two  eyes  to  be  cast  into  hell  fire." 

This  commandment  Jesus  particularly  gave  to  His  church,  His 
body,  that  it  should  cut  off  all  sinful  and  offensive  members,  to 
prevent  the  destruction  of  the  whole  body.  A  love  of  this  nature 
was  commanded  by  God,  in  the  law,  that  if  "thy  friend,  which  is 
as  thine  own  soul,  entice  thee  secretly,  saying,  Let  us  go  and 
serve  other  gods,  which  thou  hast  not  known,  thou  shalt  not 
harken    unto   him;    neither    shall    thine    eye    pity  him."     Deut. 


IOO  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

1 : 6-8.  Behold,  of  this  love  every  courtier  remains  ignorant  as 
long  as  he  refuses  to  enter  into  the  sacred  ties  with  Christ,  or 
His  doctrine  and  ordinances.  Yet  he  professes  to  be  very  cath- 
olic, broad-minded,  and  liberal  in  his  views  and  feelings  for 
others,  and  may  be  so  regarded  by  the  inexperienced.  However, 
when  he  will  be  made  manifest,  it  will  be  discovered  that  he  was  a 
mere  pretender.  The  Scriptures  say,  "Let  love  be  without  dis- 
simulation." Rom.  12:9.  See  also  1  Tim.  1:5,  6.  "Now,  the 
end  of  the  commandment  is  charity  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a 
good  conscience,  and  of  faith  unfeigned,  from  which,  some  having 
swerved,  have  turned  aside  unto  vain  jangling." 

OF  LOVE. 

How  do  we  prove  true  love  and  sound  faith,  or  false  love  and 
pretended  faith  ?  True  faith,  and  that  which  hath  the  promise  of 
everlasting  life,  must  be  conformable  to  Scripture ;  it  must  be  as 
Jesus  said :  "He  that  believeth  on  Me,  as  the  Scripture  hath  said, 
out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water."  John  7 :  38. 
A  scriptural  faith  will  also  produce  a  scriptural  love.  "For  this 
is  the  love  of  God,  that  we  keep  His  commandments."  1  John 
5  :  3.  "If  ye  love  Me,  ye  will  keep  My  commandments."  (Rev. 
Ver.)  "He  that  hath  My  commandments,  and  keepeth  them, 
he  it  is  that  loveth  Me;"  and  "if  a  man  love  Me,  he  will  keep 
My  words"  (John  14:  15,  21,  23),  by  which  scriptural  love  all 
men  are  to  know  His  disciples  (John  13  :  34,  35).  For  as  Christ 
was  born,  crucified,  and  raised  according  to  the  Scriptures  ( 1  Cor. 
15:3,  4),  so  He  taught  His  believers  a  scriptural  faith,  and 
promised  them  an  everlasting  life.  But  a  feigned  love  and  faith 
are  not  recognized  by  Scripture,  but  are  built  upon  the  wisdom  of 
men ;  one  will  believe  as  he  was  taught  by  his  learned  predecessor, 
the  other  will  be  governed  by  some  book,  and  the  third  by  his 
own  opinion  and  desires ;  whereas  the  Scripture  expressly  says, 
"One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism."  Eph.  4:5.  Should  ten 
vain  professors  be  examined  according  to  the  Scriptures,  it  would 
appear  that  each  one  would  be  governed  by  a  peculiar  faith,  and 
not  one  of  which  would  correspond  with  the  Scripture,  for  there 


MACK  S    BOOK.  IOI 

is  only  one  true  and  unfeigned  faith  according  to  the  Scriptures, 
and  all  they  who  possess  this  faith  are  of  the  same  mind. 

OF    FAITH. 

Whoever  says,  because  all  sects  appeal  to  Scripture,  that  there- 
fore no  such  liberty  is  to  be  given  to  the  true  believer,  necessarily 
must  be  miserable  and  an  ignorant  person.  That  all  sects 
acknowledge  the  divine  origin  of  the  Scripture,  and  appeal  to  it, 
although  they  do  not  believe  in  it,  gives  great  support  to  the 
faith  of  the  believer.  There  is  a  great  difference  between  appeal- 
ing to  and  believing  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  will  appear 
from  the  conversation  between  Jesus  and  the  Jews.  "For  had 
ye  believed  Moses,  ye  would  have  believed  Me ;  for  he  wrote  of 
Me."  John  5  :  46.  The  Jews  all  appealed  to  Moses,  but  did  not 
believe  in  his  writings.  Thus,  all  sects  appeal  to  Scripture,  and 
even  to  Jesus  Himself.  In  the  same  manner,  therefore,  as  they 
believe  in  Jesus,  so  they  believe  in  the  Scriptures.  Could  a  true 
believer  be  so  stupid  as  to  conclude  that  because  all  sects  appeal 
to  a  crucified  Saviour,  "therefore  I  can  not  safely  do  so"  ?  Such 
a  conclusion  would  answer  the  devil's  purpose  extremely  well. 
Rut  true  believers  have  been  taught  otherwise  by  their  Master; 
for  as  the  devil  in  his  temptation  of  Jesus,  appealed  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, an  appeal  was  made  to  the  Scriptures  by  Jesus  in  His 
answer.  See  Matt.  4:6,  7.  Admitting  that  the  devil  and  all 
false  spirits  appeal  to  Scripture,  is  not  admitting  that  they  believe 
in  it.  The  faithful  children  of  God  always  look  unto  their 
heavenly  Father,  believe  and  follow  Him  in  His  revealed  Word, 
because  they  are  certain  that  God  and  His  Word  exactly  corre- 
spond with  each  other.  They  would  be  under  the  necessity  of 
omitting  a  great  deal  if  they  were  not  to  do  what  the  wicked 
and  infidels  do  in  their  unbelief.  They  would  not  be  allowed  to 
pray,  sing,  labor,  eat,  and  sleep,  which  to  the  wicked  is  all  sin 
and  abomination  before  God.  For  "unto  the  pure  all  things  are 
pure;  but  unto  them  that  are  defiled  and  unbelieving  is  nothing 
pure."  Titus  1:15.  When  the  ungodly  perform  divine  service, 
as  praying,  singing,  holding  meetings,  going  to  sacrament,  and 


102  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

such  like,  blind  reason  here  may  suggest  that  if  such  be  the  prac- 
tice of  these  people,  it  will  be  no  harm  to  omit  them.  Uninformed 
persons  may,  indeed,  be  so  confounded,  in  various  ways,  that 
finally  they  will  be  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  think  or  believe. 
Then  will  they  be  compelled  to  invent  one  of  their  own,  of  which 
perhaps  not  the  smallest  trace  exists  in  Scripture.  In  pursuing 
this,  they  will  imagine  to  have  exceeded  the  apostles,  and  will 
reject  every  counsel  of  the  Scriptures.  I  have  known  people, 
whose  course  I  discovered,  to  end  in  great  depravity.  Their 
ruined  condition  was  such  that  finally  they  believed  in  nothing  at 
all,  and  some  of  them  again  resumed  the  broad  road  to  destruc- 
tion. May  God  in  His  grace  preserve  every  innocent  believer 
against  such  a  condition,  that  he  may  not  aspire  to  rise  too  high, 
but  be  satisfied  in  a  humble  sphere.  Rom.  12:16.  And  Paul 
says  to  his  son  Timothy,  "that  from  a  child  thou  hast  known  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  which  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation, 
through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  All  Scripture  is  given 
by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof, 
for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness ;  that  the  man  of 
God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works." 

1  Tim.  3:15-17- 

Are  we  in  all  respects  to  believe  the  teachings  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  is  a  believer  bound  to  believe  and  obey  the  same, 
or  does  the  Spirit  of  God  not  lead  us  in  ways  different  from  what 
the  Scripture  literally  tells  us  ? 

It  is  not  necessary  to  tell  a  believer  that  he  is  absolutely  bound 
to  believe  and  obey  the  Scripture,  but  no  person  can  be  faithful 
without  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  the  author  of  our  faith.  The 
Scripture  is  simply  an  external  evidence  of  things  formerly 
taught  and  commanded  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  containing  the  prom- 
ises and  judgments  pronounced  by  Him.  When  a  person  obtains 
the  Holy  Ghost,  it  will  be  the  same  Spirit  of  faith  who  worked  in 
Peter,  Paul,  and  John,  many  hundred  years  ago.  He  is  the 
same  in  all  the  faithful,  although  working  in  greater  measure  in 
the  apostles  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  and  what  they  wrote 
and  commanded  all  believers  accepted  as  long  as  they  continued 


MACK  S     BOOK.  IO3 

sound  in  the  faith.  As  there  is  but  one  God,  and  one  Spirit,  the 
purpose  of  this  one  Holy  Spirit  must  be  the  same  as  it  was  many 
hundred  years  ago.  What  the  Holy  Ghost  commanded  the  faith- 
ful to  observe,  is  externally  recorded,  especially  to  which  all 
the  faithful  submit,  for  He  gives  the  same  doctrine  internally  that 
the  Scripture  gives  externally.  But  whenever  persons  examine 
the  Scripture  with  their  own  wisdom  and  fleshly  minds,  they  read 
it  without  the  spirit  of  faith,  and  can  not  believe  its  external 
evidence,  nor  be  obedient  thereto.  They  are  not  bound  to  obey 
its  commandments,  because  they  do  not  consider  it  directed  to 
them.  If  a  king  were  to  give  laws,  and  record  them  for  the  use 
of  his  subjects,  connected  with  great  promises  and  threats,  in  case 
of  obedience  or  disobedience,  others  not  his  subjects  might  read 
them  with  great  ado,  but  with  little  concern  for  obeying  them. 
The  same  holds  good  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Whoever  reads  it  may  see  what  Jesus,  the  King  of  kings, 
has  promised  to  those  who  truly  repent,  believe,  and  faithfully 
follow  Him  in  all  His  commandments.  They  can  likewise  read  of 
all  His  judgments  upon  all  who  refuse  to  obey  His  gospel,  or  the 
government  of  His  Spirit  in  the  obedience  of  His  commandments 
as  recorded  in  Scripture.  It  is  true,  a  man  may  read  the  bare 
scriptural  Word,  speak  and  write  it,  but  if  he  has  not  the  Spirit  of 
faith  in  him,  he  will  not  concern  himself  about  its  commandments, 
nor  be  much  terrified  at  its  threats.  The  reason  is  plain,  his  ears 
are  not  opened.  Thus  Jesus  said  to  those  who  heard  Him  preach, 
"He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear."  Matt.  11:15;  13  :  43- 
And  in  the  Revelation  the  Spirit  of  God  calls  upon  the  seven 
churches :  "He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith 
unto  the  churches."  Rev.  2  :  7.  Thus,  a  believer  whose  internal 
ears  are  opened,  if  he  read  the  Holy  Scriptures,  hears  what  Jesus 
enjoins  in  His  doctrine,  what  the  apostles  require  in  their  writ- 
ings, and  by  his  internal  hearing  be  excited  to  true  obedience 
externally.  He  reads  the  Scriptures  in  faith,  and  hears  the 
internal  Word  of  life,  which  gives  him  power  and  vigor  to  follow 
Jesus.  But  where  faith  is  wanting,  it  is  an  easy  matter  for  a 
man  to  hear  and  read  the  bare  Word,  and  sav,  "It  is  a  dead  letter 


I04  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

which  I  can  not  obey,  because  I  am  not  internally  convinced  of 
what  is  externally  written,"  but  he  is  ignorant  of  his  want  of 
sound  faith  and  the  true  love  of  God.     John  14:  1 5. 

OF  THE   EXTERNAL  AND   INTERNAL   WORD. 

When  the  Lord  God  revealed  His  law  to  His  people,  He  wrote 
the  commandments  on  two  tables  of  stone,  and  gave  them  to 
Moses,  to  be  put  into  the  ark  of  the  covenant.     Deut.  10:  1-5; 
Heb.  9:4.     Of  these  they  were  to  take  a  copy,  and  write  them 
upon  the  posts  of  their  houses.     Deut.  6 :  6,  9.     It  is  written  that 
the  words  of  the  commandments  should  be  in  their  hearts,  of 
which  they  should  talk  to  their  children,  bind  them  for  a  sign  upon 
their  hands,  and  write  them  upon  the  posts  of  their  houses  and 
gates.     The  external  copy,  of  course,  was  a  faithful  transcript  of 
the  writing  of  God  upon  the  tables  of  stone  within  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  in  the  holy  place,  so  that  the  external  and  internal  law 
are  of  the  same  import.     The  ark  of  the  covenant,  containing 
the    commandments   in   the   holy   of   holies,   may    represent   the 
heart  of  each  believer  in  the  new  covenant.     It  contains,  also,  the 
tables  of  the  commandments  of  his  God,  written  not  by  the  hand 
of  man,  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost.     This,  therefore,  stands  in  close 
connection  with  the  external  writings  in  the   New  Testament, 
which  flowed  from  the  interior,  and  is  the  very  image  of  the 
inward  living  Word  of  God.     But  where  a  person  says  that  the 
laws  of  God  are  in  his  heart,  and  still  wars  against  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Son  of  God  and  His  apostles,  of  which  the 
Scriptures  testify,  we  may  safely  believe  him  to  be  of  a  carnal 
mind,  possessing  in  his  heart  the  spirit  of  error  and  falsehood. 
Where  the  law  of  God  is  written  in  the  heart,  all  are  of  one  faith, 
one  baptism,  and  one  Spirit,  according  to  Christ  Jesus.     It  was 
the  design  of  the  true  Lawgiver  that  His  disciples  all  should 
be  one,  even  as  the  Father  and  Son.     John  17:  21.     On  the  con- 
trary, where  a  spurious  gospel  is  received  and  written  in  the 
heart  by  the  spirit  of  error,  there  is  ignorance  of  divine  things. 
Ps.  5 :  10.     It  separates  men  from  the  commandments  and  ordi- 
nances of  God,  and  causes  among  them  many  religious  professions 


MACK  S     BOOK.  IO5 

and  opinions.  This  I  have  experienced  in  many,  who  said  they 
were  a  free  people,  under  no  compulsion  to  obey  the  letter  of  the 
New  Testament,  because  the  law  of  God  was  written  in  their 
hearts.  But  I  have  seen  such  whereof  not  two  were  of  one  mind. 
For  as  many  as  possessed  this  high  disposition,  so  many  different 
opinions  had  they  among  them.  To  me,  indeed,  this  appeared  to 
be  a  very  curious  spirit,  writing  so  many  different  laws  in  the 
different  hearts  of  men.  Even  in  the  days  of  the  prophet  Jere- 
miah, God  complained  that  the  Israelites  were  corrupted  by  false 
prophets,  forsook  His  laws  and  altars.  Jer.  11:13.  The  same 
is  the  case  with  people  in  our  times,  who  boast  of  great  liberty 
without  obeying  the  Scripture,  the  divine  counsels,  and  command- 
ments. The  saying  here  is  perfectly  true :  "As  many  people,  so 
many  spirits  and  so  many  laws.  But  however  great  their  spir- 
itual pretensions  may  be,  it  still  continues  to  be  Babylon,  con- 
fusion, and  discord.  As  builders,  they  refuse  to  desist,  although 
the  Lord  confuses  their  language.  Although  many  learned  and 
wise  have  built,  were  disgraced  and  turned  fools,  still  they  begin 
again  to  build  this  confused  edifice.  The  consequence  will  be 
confusion,  confounding,  and  their  minds  will  be  so  corrupted  as 
totally  to  be  unfit  for  believing.  ''Yet  their  folly  shall  be  mani- 
fest unto  all  men,"  as  is  written  in  2  Tim.  3 : 9.  Both  true  and 
false  laws  may  be  written  in  the  hearts  of  men,  the  false  by  the 
spirit  of  error,  in  the  hearts  of  the  unbelieving;  and  the  true  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  truth,  in  the  children  of  the  new  covenant,  or 
the  true  believers,  perfectly  corresponding  with  what  Christ  and 
His  apostles  commanded  and  recorded  in  the  Scriptures. 

OF  THINGS  STRANGLED  AND  OF  BLOOD. 

Blood  having  been  as  an  offering  for  atonement,  in  the  Old 
Testament,  therefore  God  said  to  Noah,  when  permitting  him  and 
his  sons  to  eat  flesh,  "But  flesh  with  the  life  thereof,  which  is  the 
blood  thereof,  shall  ye  not  eat."  Gen.  9 : 4.  Again  God  com- 
manded His  people  by  Moses,  saying,  "Ye  shall  eat  no  manner  of 
blood,  whether  it  be  of  fowl  or  of  beast,  in  any  of  your  dwell- 
ings.    Whatsoever  soul  it  be  that  eateth  any  manner  of  blood, 


I06  HISTORY    OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

even  that  soul  shall  be.  cut  off  from  his  people."  Lev.  7:26,  27. 
God  expressed  the  same  still  more  clearly,  when  he  said,  "And 
whatsoever  man  there  be  of  the  house  of  Israel,  or  of  the 
strangers  that  sojourn  among  you,  that  eateth  any  manner  of 
blood ;  I  will  even  set  My  face  against  that  soul  that  eateth 
blood ;  and  I  have  given  it  to  you  upon  the  altar  to  make  an 
atonement  for  your  souls.  Therefore,  I  said  unto  the  children 
of  Israel,  No  soul  of  you  shall  eat  blood."  Lev.  17:  10-12.  This 
is  the  reason  why  God  in  the  Old  Testament  has  forbidden  His 
people  to  eat  blood.  In  the  time  of  the  apostles  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  pleased  to  command  to  abstain  from  eating  blood  as  well  as 
from  acts  of  fornication,  as  a  necessary  observance  for  the  faith- 
ful, both  from  among  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Acts  15:29.  The 
reason  of  not  eating  blood  by  the  Christians,  is  that  the  blood  of 
the  Son  of  God  is  an  atonement  for  them,  and  is  forbidden,  both 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  The  language  of  the  first 
Christians  to  the  heathen  was,  "We  are  not  as  brutal  and  desirous 
as  the  beasts  to  eat  their  flesh  with  blood."  They  inflicted  a 
state  of  bondage  on  a  man  who  proved  to  be  guilty  of  this  act,  as 
may  be  seen  in  Godfrey  Arnold's  "Portrait  of  the  Primitive 
Christians." 

But  the  apostle  said,  "Whatsoever  is  sold  in  the  shambles  that 
eat."  1  Cor.  10:25.  P)Ut  Pam*  alludes  only  to  natural  food, 
and  blood  can  not  be  considered  as  an  article  of  that  description. 
Thus  it  is  a  settled  point  that  the  eating  of  blood  and  things 
strangled,  as  well  as  acts  of  fornication,  are  forbidden  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  apostles. 

OF    MATRIMONY. 

The  Lord  Himself  instituted  matrimony  in  Paradise,  as  Jesus 
said  to  the  Pharisees:  "Have  ye  not  read,  that  He  who  made 
them  at  the  beginning  made  them  male  and  female,  and  said,  They 
twain  shall  be  one  flesh?"  Matt.  19:4,  5.  That  this  state  is 
for  the  purpose  of  two  persons  who  in  the  fear  and  faith  of  God 
are  to  be  one,  and  was  instituted  and  blessed  by  Himself,  may  be 
seen  in  the  cases  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  the  saints  of  the 


MACKS     BOOK.  I07 

Old  Testament.  That  it  is  to  be  conducted  in  unity  and  purity, 
likewise  has  been  expressed  in  the  law.  Thus  God  has  forbidden 
the  children  of  Israel  to  marry  any  other  than  those  of  the  seed 
of  Abraham.  Deut.  7 :  3.  The  Lord  gave  His  commandments 
to  the  Israelites  by  Moses,  respecting  this  ordinance,  for  which 
see  Ex.  19:15;  Lev.  12:5;  20:18.  From  all  these  command- 
ments it  is  clear  that  the  state  of  matrimony  is  a  regulation 
of  decency  and  not  in  concupiscence,  as  among  the  heathen,  who 
are  ignorant  of  God  and  His  will.  In  the  New  Testament  it  is 
to  be  respected  as  an  ordinance  still  more  holy.  To  the  unmar- 
ried the  apostle  Paul  says  that  it  would  be  good  for  them  if  they 
abide  even  as  he.  For  if  a  single  state  be  conducted  in  the 
purity  of  the  Spirit,  and  flesh,  in  the  true  faith  of  Jesus,  and 
kept  in  true  humility,  it  may  be  considered  as  an  higher  grade  of 
perfection,  and  a  nearer  resemblance  of  the  image  of  Jesus.  But 
if  a  single  person  marries,  he  commits  no  sin,  provided  it  be  done 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  that  is,  in  the  true  faith  of  Christ,  to  be 
one  flesh  even  as  Christ  and  His  church.  Eph.  5 :  30.  For  in 
no  other  manner  can  a  man  be  of  one  flesh  with  Christ  than  by 
obedience  to  the  Word,  which  is  Jesus,  and  which  He  has  taught. 
In  like  manner  must  true  matrimony  be  so  conducted  that  they 
be  one  according  to  the  outward  flesh,  but  much  more  according 
to  the  inward  part  in  the  will  of  their  God  must  they  have  one 
body  and  one  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  In  no  other  manner  has 
matrimony  been  instituted  and  consecrated.  But  where  people 
marry  on  account  of  pleasures,  and  riches,  and  not  in  unity  of 
faith  in  Christ,  such  a  marriage  lies  under  the  curse,  and  must  be 
rejected  by  the  faithful,  and  is  improper  in  the  church  of  the 
Lord,  and  always  has  been  punished  by  God.  As  may  be  seen, 
that  when  the  sons  of  God  turned  away  from  Him,  and  became 
fleshly  minded,  "saw  the  daughters  of  men  that  they  were  fair, 
and  they  took  to  themselves  wives  of  all  which  they  chose,"  a 
flood  came  and  destroyed  them  all.  The  Scripture  called  those 
from  the  tribe  of  Seth  the  children  of  God,  because  he,  having 
been  Adam's  son,  was  begotten  after  his  image.  Gen.  5  :  3.  But 
the  children  of  men  were  from  the  tribe  of  Cain,  whom  the  Lord 


I08  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

cursed  for  murdering  his  brother.  God  did  permit  these  two 
tribes  to  mix  with  each  other,  but  they  disobeyed,  and  they  all 
perished  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  with  the  exception  of  a  seed 
from  the  tribe  of  Seth,  consisting  of  Noah  and  his  sons.  The 
devil,  however,  soon  brought  one  of  his  sons,  named  Ham,  under 
the  curse  of  his  father.  Gen.  9:25.  God  therefore  made  no 
selection  from  Ham's  tribe,  but  from  Shem's,  his  brother,  of 
whom  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful,  was  a  descendant. 
Abraham,  for  the  marrying  of  his  son  Isaac,  said  to  his  eldest 
servant  that  he  should  not  take  a  wife  unto  his  son  of  the 
daughters  of  the  Canaanites,  namely,  from  the  tribes  of  Ham, 
but  go  to  Abraham's  country  and  kindred,  and  take  a  wife  to 
his  son  Isaac. 

The  same  disposition  governed  Isaac  when  blessing  his  son 
Jacob  and  commanding  him  not  to  take  a  wife  of  the  daughters 
of  Canaan,  but  go  to  his  mother's  father's  house,  and  take  a 
wife  of  his  daughters.  But  Esau,  Jacob's  brother,  a  wild  man, 
and  hated  by  the  Lord,  not  regarding  the  will  of  God,  but  court- 
ing at  pleasure,  took  two  wives,  not  of  his  kindred,  but  of  the 
Hittites,  which  caused  great  grief  to  Isaac  and  Rebecca.  Gen. 
28:  1-5;  Mai.  1  :  1-3.  The  wise  king  Solomon,  when  overcome 
by  the  love  of  strange  women,  and  marrying  contrary  to  the 
law,  fell  under  the  displeasure  of  God,  so  that  his  kingdom  was 
rent  out  of  his  hands.  1  Kings  II :  I.  The  Jews,  too,  when 
rebuilding  the  temple  at  the  time  of  Nehemiah,  repented  and  sep- 
arated themselves  from  all  strange  women  which  they  had  taken, 
of  whom  some  even  had  children.     See  Ezra,  tenth  chapter. 

It,  no  doubt,  frequently  occurred  among  the  first  Christians 
that  one  of  the  two  only  became  faithful.  Paul  therefore  recom- 
mends the  believer  to  continue  with  the  unbelieving  as  long  as 
the  latter  be  pleased  to  dwell  with  the  former;  but  if  he  made 
proposals  for  parting,  the  faithful  no  longer  will  be  bound  in  such 
cases.  1  Cor.  7:  12-15.  It  should  be  observed  what  Paul  says 
of  the  marriage  of  the  faithful  in  the  foregoing  verses,  where  the 
Lord  says:  "Let  not  the  wife  depart  from  her  husband;  but  if 
she  depart,  let  her  remain  unmarried.     But  to  the  rest  speak  I, 


MACKS    BOOK.  IO9 

not  the  Lord.  If  any  brother  hath  a  wife  that  believeth  not,  and 
if  she  be  pleased  to  dwell  with  him,  let  him  not  put  her  away." 
By  this  we  are  to  understand  that  if  the  unbelieving  should  be 
brutish  and  continually  grumbling  and  destroying  every  good 
feeling,  or  should  be  guilty  of  adultery,  so  that  the  believing  party 
is  to  serve  as  a  cloak  to  cover  shame,  in  this  case  the  believer 
is  not  bound  to  dwell  with  such  a  wicked  person. 

But  shpuld  one  commit  adultery,  shall  they  be  permitted  still 
to  live  with  each  other?  In  the  beginning  it  was  commanded 
in  the  law  of  Moses,  to  put  to  death  all  adulterers,  and  not  to 
suffer  any  one  of  them  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.  But  if  a  man 
has  set  his  wife  at  liberty  by  a  letter  of  divorcement,  she  was  no 
more  to  be  considered  as  an  adulteress,  although  married  with 
another.  Yet  if  the  latter  husband  dies,  her  former  would  not 
have  been  allowed  to  take  her  again  to  be  his  wife,  for  she  would 
have  been  considered  an  abomination  before  the  Lord.  Deut. 
24:3,  4.  How  great,  then,  must  the  crime  of  adultery  be,  and 
how  much  it  operates  against  a  believer  to  marry  an  adulterous, 
whorish  body,  is  evident  from  the  great  corruption  it  produces 
in  the  sight  and  congregation  of  the  Lord,  and  therefore  as  such 
an  abomination  can  not  be  permitted,  no  other  remedy  against 
such  an  offense  than  actual  separation  could  be  prescribed,  unless 
in  cases  of  thorough  repentance. 

OF    EXCOMMUNICATION. 

But  if  either  party,  the  husband  or  wife,  sins  so  as  to  be 
excommunicated  by  the  church,  is  the  other  party  to  have  no 
communication  with  him  or  her?  God  commanded  in  the  Old 
Testament  that  "if  thy  brother,  or  thy  son,  or  thy  daughter,  or 
the  wife  of  thy  bosom,  or  thy  friend,  who  is  as  thine  own  soul, 
entice  thee  secretly,  saying,  Let  us  go  and  serve  other  gods, 
which  thou  hast  not  known,"  "thou  shalt  not  consent  unto  him," 
nor  "shall  thine  eye  pity  him,  neither  shalt  thou  spare,  neither 
shalt  thou  conceal  him,  but  thine  hand  shall  be  first  upon  him,  to 
put  him  to  death,  and  afterwards  the  hand  of  all  the  people." 
Deut.  13:6-9.     Thus  it  may  be  seen  of  what  little  consequence 


HO  HISTORY     OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

the  closest  connections  were  to  him  who  was  to  be  put  to  death 
under  the  law.  This  itself  represents  the  state  of  excommunica- 
tion in  the  church  of  God  in  the  new  covenant.  There  Jesus  said, 
If  thy  brother  transgress  against  thee  (including  husband  and 
wife,  children  and  parents,  if  belonging  to  the  congregation  of 
the  Lord),  and  if  he  shall  neglect  to  hear  thee  and  the  church, 
"let  him  be  unto  thee  as  an  heathen  man  and  a  publican."  Matt. 
18:  15-17.  This  forbearance  for  the  purpose  of  escaping  corrup- 
tion, both  in  spiritual  as  well  as  bodily  communication,  is  to  be 
observed  even  among  the  nearest  connections.  In  Deut.  17:7  it 
is  strongly  marked  out,  namely,  if  one  has  transgressed,  so  that 
he  must  suffer  death,  the  hands  of  the  witness  first  shall  be  upon 
the  perpetrator,  and  then  the  hands  of  all  the  people.  And  when 
Israel  had  transgressed,  through  the  medium  of  the  gold  calf,  the 
Levites  were  commanded  by  the  Lord  to  slay  from  gate  to  gate 
throughout  the  camp,  every  man  his  brother,  companion,  and 
neighbors,  and  then  a  blessing  was  bestowed  upon  them  bv 
Moses.  Thus,  in  Christendom  it  is  exceedingly  necessary  to 
renounce  all  for  the  Lord's  sake.  The  doctrine  of  self-denial 
purports  the  same  thing.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  assist  in  excom- 
municating as  long  as  we  are  not  under  the  necessity  of  expelling 
our  companions  and  children,  but  in  that  case  our  natural  affec- 
tions, alas !  often  prove  to  be  stronger  than  our  love  for  divine 
things,  which  must  end  in  destruction.  It  is,  therefore,  a  settled 
point,  what  Jesus  says,  "Whosoever  loveth  anything  more  than 
Me  is  not  worthy  of  Me."     See  Matt.  10:  3,  7. 

OF  OUTWARD  WORSHIP. 

There  is  a  time  for  humiliation,  and  a  time  for  exaltation. 
Jesus  first  appeared  in  this  world  in  a  low,  humble  station,  in  a 
humble  and  voluntary  submission  to  the  will  of  his  father.  In 
future  He  will  appear  as  the  exalted  Christ,  in  great  glory. 
Therefore,  every  soul  wishing  to  share  in  His  exaltation  must 
follow  Him  in  a  state  of  humility,  and  not  be  ashamed  to  confess 
Him  before  men  in  all  His  commandments.  In  no  other  manner 
can  success  be  insured.     The  church  of  the  Lord  has  always  been 


MACKS    BOOK.  IH 

little  and  despised  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  has  been  as  the 
sweepings  of  the  dust.  Such  men  greatly  err  who  teach  that  it 
is  needless  for  the  faithful  to  be  baptized  with  water  and  partake 
of  the  wine  of  communion  for  showing  forth  the  death  of  Christ, 
pretending  to  be  baptized  with  spiritual  water  and  to  partake  of 
spiritual  wine,  and  other  high  pretensions  they  may  have  against 
the  clear  evidence  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  It  is  very  necessary 
to  look  wholly  to  the  testimony  of  Jesus  and  His  example ;  and 
to  avoid  being  misled  by  these  high-toned  people,  we  must  simply 
follow  His  example  in  the  obedience  of  faith,  and  bring  every 
thought  into  captivity  under  that  obedience. 

THE  EXCUSE  OF  UNBELIEVERS. 

But  some  people  appeal  to  saints  such  as  Taulerus,  Thomas  A. 
Kempis,  and  others,  who  have  written  spiritual  books,  without 
mentioning  anything  respecting  the  practice  of  the  outward  doc- 
trine of  Jesus.  Men  who  appeal  to  men's  evidence  indicate  that 
they  are  destitute  of  the  testimony  of  Jesus.  Therefore  says  St. 
John,  "If  we  receive  the  witness  of  men,  the  witness  of  God  is 
greater ;  for  this  is  the  witness  of  God  which  He  hath  testified  of 
His  Son.  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the  witness 
in  himself.  He  that  believeth  not  God  hath  made  Him  a  liar, 
because  he  believeth  not  the  record  that  God  gave  of  His  Son." 
i  John  5 : 9,  10.  Such  testimony  is  essential  to  salvation,  and 
possessed  by  all  saints.  But  it  is  very  dangerous  to  appeal  to 
men  who  are  still  under  the  influence  of  popish  institutions,  and 
have  avoided  out  of  fear  what  otherwise  they  might  have  con- 
fessed. An  appeal  to  saints  is  as  absurd  as  though  the  world 
were  to  appeal  to  Christ  and  His  apostles,  and  yet  not  harmonize 
with  their  doctrine.  Such  poor  souls  are  to  be  pitied  who 
endeavor  to  ground  their  faith  upon  such  a  slender  foundation, 
which  in  time  of  affliction  will  afford  no  consolation.  But  the 
Son  of  God  has  taught,  "Therefore,  whosoever  heareth  these 
sayings  of  Mine,  and  doeth  them,  I  will  liken  unto  a  wise  man, 
which  built  his  house  upon  a  rock."  Matt.  7 :  24.  Our  Saviour 
further  says,  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  heareth  My 


112  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

word,  and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent  Me,  hath  everlasting  life, 
and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from  death 
unto  life."  John  5 :  24.  Again,  "Whosoever  liveth  and  believ- 
eth in  Me  shall  never  die."  John  11  126.  These  are  true  testi- 
monies to  him  who  believeth,  but  how  wretched  it  is  to  appeal  to 
the  testimonies  and  practice  of  men  as  patterns  in  divine  things, 
and  passing  by  the  example  of  Christ  and  His  apostles.  Let  us 
remember  what  Paul  says :  "But  though  we,  or  an  angel  from 
heaven,  preach  any  other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  which  we 
have  preached  unto  you,  let  him  be  accursed."  Gal.  1  :  26.  This 
is  the  only  gospel  to  which  we  shall  listen,  to  which  Moses  and 
the  prophets  have  pointed,  and  was  revealed  by  Christ  and  His 
apostles ;  neither  dare  it  to  be  altered  or  tampered  with  by  the 
holiness  of  angels  or  men,  or  even  by  the  power  and  dominion 
of  the  whole  world.  To  add  anything  to,  or  take  away  from  it, 
would  bring  upon  us  the  displeasure  of  God,  for  it  is  as  firm  as 
the  mountain  of  the  Lord ;  and  Christ  compares  it  to  a  stone, 
saying,  "Whosoever  shall  fall  on  this  stone  shall  be  broken  ;  but 
on  whomsoever  it  shall  fall,  it  shall  grind  him  to  powder." 
Matt.  21 :  44. 

OF  THE   REWARD  OF   THE   FAITHFUL. 

The  riches  and  glories  to  be  obtained  through  Christ,  are  of 
such  magnitude  as  to  be  inexpressible  by  any  human  tongue ; 
nor  can  any  one  describe  what  God  has  prepared  for  those  who 
love  Him.  The  Son  of  God  Himself  testifies,  "That  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life."  John 
3:15.  This  is  a  great  expression  of  eternal  glory.  It  is  not 
like  the  life  of  kings  and  the  great  of  this  world,  for  this  is 
scarcely  like  the  span  of  an  hand,  and  at  the  same  time  is  full  of 
danger,  disease,  and  disquietude,  and  at  last  it  will  be  brought 
to  naught ;  but  it  is  such  a  fulness  of  joy,  which  is  no  more  sub- 
ject to  death,  but  will  continue  forever.  No  pain,  no  fear,  no 
want,  nor  even  any  complaint,  for  as  the  life  is  everlasting,  so 
will  be  its  glory,  as  God  said,  "Everlasting  joy  shall  be  upon  their 
heads."     Isa.  35 :  10.     There  will  proceed  "out  of  the  throne  of 


MACKS    BOOK.  II3 

God  and  of  the  Lamb,  a  pure  river  of  water  of  life,"  and  "on  either 
side  of  the  river  was  there  the  tree  of  life,"  bearing  the  most 
precious  fruits.  Rev.  22:  1,  2.  It  is  here  where  the  city  of  God 
will  be  manifested  amidst  this  happy  state  of  existence  (Rev.  21), 
whose  streets  will  be  of  pure  gold  and  precious  stones,  and  where 
the  faithful  will  sing  glorious  hallelujahs.  Job  13:22.  They 
shall  have  crowns  on  their  heads,  and  will  be  clothed  with  white 
robes,  and  palms  of  victory  in  their  hands.  Rev.  7:9.  They 
will  shout,  and  sing,  and  rejoice,  and  the  Lamb  will  lead  them 
unto  living  fountains  of  water,  and  feed  them  with  fruit  of 
immortality.  It  will  heighten  their  joy  still  more  when  they 
shall  behold  Jesus  in  His  great  glory  and  majesty,  with  millions 
of  His  saints  and  angels  surrounding  His  throne,  and  with  a  loud 
voice  and  great  joy  they  shall  sing  everlasting  hallelujah  until 
heaven  and  earth  will  echo  the  song  of  the  redeemed  unto  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain,  ascribing  "blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory, 
and  power,"  forever  and  forever.  Rev.  5:  12,  13.  Their  pleas- 
ure will  become  still  greater  when  they  behold  Jesus  in  His  glori- 
fied humanity.  They  will  be  astonished  that  so  few  have  loved 
and  followed  their  blessed  Redeemer,  and  that  they  themselves 
had  not  more  willingly  served  Him. 

OF  EVERLASTING  TORMENT. 

In  the  same  manner  that  the  glory  of  the  faithful  shall  be 
inexpressible,  so  will  be  the  misery  of  unbelievers.  The  Scrip- 
ture expressly  says  of  the  Son  of  God :  "Behold,  He  cometh  with 
clouds ;  and  every  eye  shall  see  Him,  and  they  also  which  pierced 
Him;  and  all  kindreds  of  the  earth  shall  wail  because  of  Him. 
Even  so,  Amen."  Rev.  1 : 7.  And  out  of  great  fear  they  shall 
say  "to  the  mountains  and  rocks,  Fall  on  us  and  hide  us  from  the 
face  of  Him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  and  from  t'he  wrath  of  the 
Lamb."  Rev.  6:  16.  But  all  this  will  profit  them  nothing,  for 
Christ  will  say  unto  them,  "Depart  from  Me,  ye  cursed,  into 
everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels."  Matt. 
25:41.  For  they  who  "worship  the  beast  and  his  image"  "shall 
be  tormented  with  fire  and  brimstone  in  the  presence  of  the  holy 
8 


114  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

angels  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb ;  and  the  smoke  of  their 
torment  ascendeth  up  forever  and  ever."  Rev.  14:  10,  11.  "And 
whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  was  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire,"  where  "their  worm  shall  not  die,  neither  shall 
their  fire  be  quenched."  Rev.  20:15;  Isa.  66:24.  Yes,  they 
will  be  abhorring  to  all  flesh,  and  their  punishment  will  be  still 
more  aggravated  when  they  recollect  that  they  have  forfeited 
this  glorious  life  which  they  now  behold  in  the  children  of  God, 
for  which  they  have  had  so  little  respect.  Moreover,  when  the 
righteous  shall  be  seen  with  great  cheerfulness  by  those  who  have 
given  them  such  anxiety,  and  rejected  their  doctrine  and  faith  in 
Jesus,  then  will  the  damned  fall  into  a  terrible  dismay  respecting 
such  blessings ;  in  sorrow  will  they  converse  with  each  other,  and 
sigh  with  anxiety  of  spirit :  This  is  he  whom  we  fools  had  treated 
as  an  outcast  and  his  conduct  as  insane.  Now  he  is  counted 
among  the  children  of  God ;  and  his  inheritance  is  among  the 
saints.  Therefore,  have  we  missed  the  ways  of  righteousness. 
What  profit  do  we  now  reap  from  our  pomp?  Of  what  avail 
now  are  our  riches  and  pride?  When  they  will  now  seriously 
reflect  upon  all  their  sinful  deeds  committed  in  this  world,  with- 
out the  least  love  of  God  as  the  greatest  good,,  and  consider  their 
forfeiture  of  such  enjoyments,  a  torture  and  misery  will  ensue 
in  them,  which  will  be  inexpressible ;  for  they  are  banished  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord  and  all  His  saints. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  it  appears  that  "the 
smoke  of  their  torment"  will  ascend  "up  forever  and  ever."  Rev. 
14:  II.  But  that  it  is  to  be  without  any  termination  the  Word 
does  not  teach,  which,  however,  is  no  consolation  to  the  believer, 
and  not  worthy  of  much  inquiry  or  investigation,  for  the  wicked 
will  have  lost  so  much  of  the  heavenly  enjoyment  that  even  if 
there  should  be"  a  final  termination  of  their  punishment,  after  a 
long  eternity,  they  could  never  enjoy  that  which  the  faithful  will 
inherit  through  obedience  to  Christ. 

It  is  a  great  error,  and  will  prove  disastrous  to  many,  whor 
having  heard  of  a  final  restoration,  will  trust  to  it  for  their 
redemption,   and   neglect  the   only   means   of   salvation, — entire 


MACKS    BOOK.  115 

consecration  to  the  service  of  Christ.  When  they  once  enter  the 
place  of  torment,  such  hope  will  vanish  like  a  vapor,  even  in  an 
apparent  eternity.  It  is  much  wiser,  therefore,  to  secure  the 
hope  of  salvation  in  the  time  and  by  God's  appointed  means  of 
grace,  and  thus  escape  the  wrath  of  God  and  the  torments  of  hell, 
than  to  waste  time  in  devising  means  of  final  escape.  As  if  a 
thief  were  to  console  himself  with  the  thought,  Ah,  well,  if  I 
should  be  apprehended  and  convicted,  my  sentence  would  expire 
sometime!  Would  not  that  be  poor  comfort?  ^Therefore  the 
gospel  which  teaches  how  to  escape  the  wrath  of  God,  is  much 
safer  and  better  than  the  gospel  which  teaches  that  external 
punishment  will  finally  cease,  which,  though  a  truth,  is  however 
not  at  all  the  proper  gospel  to  be  preached  to  the  ungodly.  But 
the  sincere  milk  of  the  Word  is  withheld  from  them  through 
propositions  of  suspiciously-prepared  strong  food,  and  the  result 
can  scarcely  be  realized  nor  fully  deplored,  for  it  must  be 
destruction  and  death,  tearing  apart  and  scatttering  abroad. 
And  after  the  people  have  been  fed  a  long  time  on  such  food, 
and  their  teacher  goes  to  other  fields,  they  do  not  know  of  what 
they  had  partaken,  although  they  had  heard  many  long,  fine- 
spun, high-sounding,  but  to  them  unmeaning  sermons.  Through 
such  a  ministry  nobody  was  prepared  the  better  to  resist  the 
devil  and  his  cohorts.  Such  people  the  apostle  Paul  likens  to 
"sounding  brass,  or  a  tinkling  cymbal."  I  Cor.  13 :  1.  They 
lacked  the  love  and  obedience  that  would  enable  them  to  obey 
the  commandments  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord.  John  14  and 
1  John  5  :  3. 

A   FATHERLY   ADVICE. 

In  conclusion,  I  offer  you  an  affectionate,  fatherly  advice, 
which  I  hope  you  will  cherish  and  keep  sacredly  while  you  live, 
that  you  may  remember  it  wherever  you  go ;  when  you  lie  down 
at  night,  and  when  you  rise  in  the  morning  let  this  be  your  great - 

*"Also  ist  das  Evangelium  viel  besser  und  seliger,  welches  lehret  wie 
mann  den  zorn  Gottes  entflihen  Kan,  als  Solches  Evangelium  welches 
lehret  dasz  die  emige  Qual  ein  Ende  hat,  welches  zwar  eine  wahrheit  ist, 
geheret  aber  gar  nicht  als  ein  Evangelium  denen  Gottlosen  zu  pretigen." 


Il6  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

est  concern;  that  all  your  desires,  and  your  highest  aspirations, 
and  your  sighs  and  groanings,  may  be  that  you  may  be  enabled 
to  love  the  Lord  God,  who  made  you,  and  Jesus  Christ,  who 
redeemed  you  with  His  own  precious  blood,  with  all  your  heart, 
with  all  your  soul,  and  with  all  your  mind,  over  everything  in 
the  world,  whether  it  be  beauty  or  wealth,  or  whatsoever  you 
may  see  or  hear  or  think  of.  And  in  this  love,  to  fear  and  serve 
God,  in  childlike  simplicity  of  heart,  meditate  upon  His  com- 
mandments day  and  night,  and  keep  them  with  a  pure  heart.  Let 
them  be  your  instructor  and  adviser,  and  pray  steadfastly  for 
the  Holy  Spirit,  who  will  lead  you  through  His  Word  into  all 
truth.  Suffer  the  words  of  David  to  ring  constantly  in  your 
ears:  "Wherewithal  shall  a  young  man  cleanse  his  way? — By 
taking  heed  thereto  according  to  Thy  Word."  Ps.  119:9. 
Again,  "The  words  of  the  Lord  are  pure  words ;  or  silver  tried  in 
a  furnace  of  earth,  purified  seven  times."  Ps.  12:6.  x\nd 
again,  "The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul.  The 
testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple.  The 
statutes  of  the  Lord  are  right,  rejoicing  the  heart.  The  com- 
mandment of  the  Lord  is  pure,  enlightening  the  eyes.  The  fear 
of  the  Lord  is  clean,  enduring  forever.  The  judgments  of  the 
Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether.  More  to  be  desired  are 
they  than  gold,  yea  than  much  fine  gold ;  sweeter  also  than 
honey  and  the  honeycomb."  Ps.  19:7-10.  And  keep  also  con- 
stantly in  mind  the  words  of  our  Saviour :  "If  a  man  love  Me,  he 
will  keep  My  words,  but  he  that  loveth  Me  not,  keepeth  not  My 
sayings."  John  14:23,  24.  Again,  "My  sheep  hear  My  voice, 
and  they  follow  Me,  and  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life."  John 
10 :  27.  And  bear  in  mind,  too,  what  the  Lord  Jesus  says  of 
His  commands,  in  these  words:  "For  I  have  not  spoken  of 
Myself ;  but  the  Father  which  sent  Me,  He  gave  Me  a  command- 
ment, what  I  should  say  and  what  I  should  speak.  And  I  know 
that  His  commandment  is  life  everlasting.  Whatsoever  I  speak, 
therefore,  even  as  the  Father  said  unto  Me,  so  I  speak."  John 
12 :  49,  50.  And  keep  steadfastly  the  precious  advice  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  His  own,  when    He  said,  "Beware  of    false    prophets, 


JACK'S    BOOK.  117 

which  come  to  you  in  sheep's  clothing,  but  inwardly  they  are 
ravening  wolves.'  Matt.  7:15.  And  regard  carefully  the 
warning  He  offers  you .  "Take  heed  that  no  man  deceive  you, 
for  many  shall  come  in  My  name,  saying,  I  am  Christ,  and  shall 
deceive  many."  Matt.  24 :  4,  5.  Keep  thy  soul  always  safely  in 
thine  own  hands,  as  the  most  valuable  of  all  thy  treasures,  and 
walk  constantly  before  the  Lord  in  holy  fear.  Like  David,  speaK 
to  the  Lord  in  uprightness  of  heart.  "Concerning  the  works  of 
ifien,  by  the  word  of  Thy  lips  I  have  kept  me  from  the  paths  of  the 
destroyer."  Ps.  17:4.  And  if  in  your  associations  you  should 
come  in  contact  with  men  who  appear  more  holy  than  John,  with 
more  fiery  zeal  than  Elias,  more  wonderfully  miraculous  than 
Moses,  more  mild,  meek,  humble,  and  spiritual  than  Christ  and 
His  apostles,  but  do  not  walk  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  our  cruci- 
fied Redeemer,  as  it  is  recorded  in  the  New  Testament,  and  desire 
to  lead  you  away  from  keeping  the  simple  commandments  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  you  may  be  assured  in  your  heart  that  they 
are  false  prophets  and  deceitful  workers.  Close  your  ears  against 
their  pernicious  teaching.  Be  as  wise  as  serpents  who  stop  their 
ears  against  the  charmer.  Call  earnestly  to  Christ  for  help,  as 
a  sheep  would  bleat  for  the  shepherd  when  it  heard  the  voice 
of  the  wolf. 

It  may  appear  harsh  and  uncharitable  to  hold  such  persons, 
who  make  such  loud  pretensions  to  holiness  and  claim  miraculous 
power,  as  false  professors  and  deceitful  workers,  because  they 
do  not  obev  the  outward  ordinances  and  ceremonies  of  the  writ- 
ten Word  of  the  Lord,  but  such  judgment  will  be  found  consistent 
with  the  teachings  of  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament. 


CHAPTER   V 

FROM    THE    CHRONIC ON    EPHRATENSE 

A  third  report  of  substantially  the  same  circumstances  is  here 
presented  and  taken  from  a  work  entitled  "The  Chronicon 
Ephratense,"  being  a  history  of  the  Seventh-day  German  Bap- 
tists : — 

"It  is  still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  all,  that,  with  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century,  important  changes  in  the  realm  of  the 
church  took  place  in  many  lands,  especially  in  Germany.  A  great 
many  people,  of  all  ranks,  separated  themselves  from  the  common 
forms  of  worship,  and  were  in  general  called  Pietists.  But  as 
only  the  three  known  church  parties  were  included  in  the  religious 
peace,  the  Pietists  everywhere  began  to  be  proceeded  against  with 
much  severity.  On  this  account  many  of  them  went  back  again 
into  the  pale  of  the  church,  and  were  therefore  denominated 
Church-Pietists.  The  rest,  for  the  most  part,  went  back  to  the 
districts  of  Marienborn,  Schwarzenau,  Schlectenboden,  etc., 
whose  rulers  had  themselves  been  awakened,  and  so  took  up  the 
refugees,  and    granted    them  liberty  of  conscience. 

"Among  the  Pietists  gathered  together  in  that  region,  two 
congregations  were  soon  formed,  whose  principles  were  radically 
different  and  contrary,  namely,  the  Community  of  True  Inspira- 
tion and  the  Baptists  of  Schwarzenau.  As  the  superintendent's 
relations  were  intricately  involved  with  these  congregations,  they 
will  often  have  to  be  referred  to.  The  Schwarzenau  Baptists 
arose  in  the  year  1708 ;  and  the  persons  who  at  that  time  broke  the 
ice,  amid  much  opposition,  were  Alexander  Mack,  their  teacher, 
a  wealthy  miller  of  Schriesheim  an  der  Bergstrasse  (who  devoted 
all  his  earthly  possessions  to  the  common  good,  and  thereby 
became  so  poor  that  at  last  he  had  not  bread  enough  to  last  from 
one  day  to  the  next),  his  housekeeper,  a  Widow  Noethiger, 
Andreas  Boney,  John  George  Hoenig,  Luke  Vetter,  Kippinger, 
and  a  gunsmith,  whose  name  is  not  known.     These  eight  asso- 

(118) 


FROM     THE     CHRONICON     EPHRATENSE.  I IQ 

ciated  themselves  together,  chose  one  of  their  number  by  lot  as 
baptist,  and  then,  according  to  the  doctrine  brought  from  heaven 
by  Christ,  baptized  one  another  that  same  year,  in  the  running 
stream  of  water  that  flows  by  Schwarzenau.  Who  their  first 
baptist  was  has  never  been  known. 

"From  these  eight  persons  are  descended  all  the  various  kinds 
of  Baptists  among  the  High  Germans  in  North  America,  who  are 
now  scattered  from  New  Jersey  to  Georgia  ;  but  whether  they  were 
the  first  who  restored  immersion,  as  a  candle  to  its  candlestick,  in 
Germany,  is  a  question  demanding  closer  investigation.  It  is 
asserted  that  the  godly  Hochmann  agreed  with  them  on  the 
subject  of  baptism,  but  as  they  carried  the  thing  out  while  he 
was  under  arrest,  he  could  not  afterwards  insist  upon  it  any 
more ;  probably,  too,  their  sectarianism  was  a  hindrance  to  him. 
Certain  it  is  that  God  was  with  them  at  that  time.  Neither  was 
there  any  difference  between  them  and  the  congregation  after- 
wards founded  at  Ephrata,  except  with  reference  to  the  Sabbath, 
and  it  is  affirmed  that  Alexander  Mack  once  publicly  declared, 
'We  now  lack  nothing  any  more,  except  the  Sabbath,  but  we  have 
enough  to  carry  already.'  They  had  their  goods  in  common,  and 
practiced  continuence,  though,  it  is  said,  they  did  not  persevere 
in  this  zeal  longer  than  seven  years,  after  which  they  turned  to 
women  again  and  to  the  ownership  of  property  involved  therein. 
And  this  is  very  likely,  from  the  fact  that,  afterwards,  when  the 
great  awakening  in  Conestoga  took  place,  during  which  similar 
circumstances  arose  once  more,  they  always  declared  that  if  it 
were  possible  to  live  in  such  wise,  their  fathers  at  Schwarzenau, 
who  for  a  time  had  the  same  zeal,  would  have  succeeded  in  it. 
Thus  they  made  their  faithlessness  the  criterion  according  to 
which  they  would  judge  God's  leading,  which  was  the  very 
source  whence  afterwards  arose  the  division  between  them  and 
the  congregation  at  Ephrata. 

"This  congregation  of  Baptists  at  Schwarzenau  increased  very 
much.  A  branch  of  it  settled  in  the  Marienborn  district,  but 
was  thrice  persecuted  there,  and  finally  found  a  refuge  in  Kre- 
feld  in  the  year  171 5.     Here  a  division  took  place.     Some  say  it 


120  HISTORY    OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

was  with  reference  to  the  question  whether  one  might  marry  out 
of  the  congregation.  Others  maintain  that  the  occasion  of  it 
was  the  marriage,  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  Paul  (i  Cor.  7), 
of  a  single  minister  of  theirs  by  the  name  of  Hager  or  Hacker. 

"It  happened  that  young  Brother  Hacker  had  studied,  and  was 
full  of  love,  and  an  intimate  friend  of  the  said  Peter  Becker,  and 
wanted  to  marry  the  daughter  of  a  merchant,  who  also  had  been 
baptized  into  the  congregation,  but  still  served  the  Mennonites  as 
preacher,  because  they  did  not  wish  to  lose  him,  and  gave  him 
a  yearly  salary  of  800  gulden.  This  man  was  glad  for  such  a 
son-in-law,  and  married  them  with  the  greatest  pleasure,  not 
thinking  that  it  would  produce  such  a  great  excitement  in  the 
congregation.  But  when  the  affair  became  known,  the  tumult 
in  the  congregation  became  so  great  that  Christian  Libe,  the  sec- 
ond teacher,  and  with  him  four  single  brethren,  rose  up  against 
it  and  excommunicated  said  Hacker,  though  John  Naas  and  the 
congregation  wished  only  to  suspend  him  from  bread-breaking. 
This  godless  excommunication  ruined  the  whole  congregation  in 
the  town  of  Krefeld.  I  heard  the  blessed  teacher,  John  Naas, 
say  that  more  than  one  hundred  persons  in  Krefeld  had  been 
convinced  in  favor  of  the  new  baptism,  but  on  account  of  this 
ban  everything  was  ruined  and  killed.  And  since  no  Moses  was 
there,  who  might  have  sent  Aaron  with  the  censer,  the  fire  of  ban 
burned  on,  and  consumed  the  whole  congregation,  which  still 
pains  my  heart  whenever  I  think  of  it.  But  it  touched  poor 
Hacker  most,  who  took  all  the  blame  on  himself.  The  spirits 
took  possession  of  him,  so  that  he  fell  sick  and  died  of  consump- 
tion. As  they  were  converted  people,  they  were  able  to  accom- 
plish something.  His  good  friend,  Peter  Becker,  however,  was 
with  him  in  his  utmost  need,  up  to  his  death. 

"After  this  Peter  Becker  concluded  to  move  to  Pennsylvania, 
and  when  this  became  known  several  others  moved  with  him, 
but  the  spirit  of  discord  and  ban  also  moved  with  them,  and  so 
wounded  and  corrupted  them  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean,  that 
they  could  hardly  be  cured  in  America." 


CHAPTER  VI 

EARLY  INTERNAL    TROUBLES 

The  brethren  at  Krefeld  had  their  share  of  internal  troubles. 
The  ruling  sovereign  of  the  province  to  which  Krefeld  belonged, 
was  of  very  amiable  and  peaceable  disposition,  and  granted  his 
subjects  more  religious  liberty  than  was  given  in  other  parts  of 
Germany.  In  consequence  of  this  freedom,  there  was  a  contin- 
uous and  heavy  immigration  into  the  town  and  vicinity,  from 
different  parts  of  the  country.  Many  of  these  newcomers  were 
members  of  the  church.  This  aggregation  of  people  brought  into 
the  Krefeld  church  almost  as  many  different  views  on  subjects 
of  theology,  as  most  of  them  belonged  to  some  other  denomina- 
tion before  they  joined  the  brethren.  Some  were  driven  there 
by  persecution,  some  came  for  the  sake  of  church  associations, 
and  some,  no  doubt,  were  drawn  thither  by  the  savory  odor  of 
the  "loaves  and  fishes."  The  Krefeld  church  being  in  its  first 
love,  like  the  mother  church  at  Jerusalem,  abounded  in  hospitality, 
and  endeavored  to  practice  community  of  possessions  to  a  fault. 
One  historian  informs  us  that  it  became  such  a  burden  to  sup- 
port this  large  mass  of  immigrants  and  refugees  that  several 
of  their  most  wealthy  brethren  were  impoverished  in  the  attempt 
to  do  so.  And  it  was  impossible  to  find  immediate  employment 
for  so  many  people.  But  "necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention," 
and  man's  extremity  became  Krefeld's  opportunity,  for  from 
that  period  dates  its  extensive  silk  and  velvet  manufactory.* 

Out  of  such  a  conglomerate  mass  of  enforced  idleness  would 
naturally  spring  forth  a  heavy  crop  of  religious  discussion  among 
those  who  were  religiously  inclined,  and  discussion  not  religious 
among  those  who  were  not,  with  a  dangerous  infection  of  those 

*Note.— "Krefeld:  Important  manufacturing  town  of  Rhenish  Prussia,  12 
miles  northwest  of  Dusseldorf.  It  owed  its  importance  to  the  settlement 
here,  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  of  numerous  refugees 
from  religious  persecution,  in  neighboring  countries,  who  established  here 
the  silk  and  velvet  manufacture,  for  which    Krefeld  is  now  the  most  noted 

town  in  Prussia." — Manifold  Cyclopedia. 

(121) 


122  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

who  tried  to  be.  Such  a  state  of  society  always  broods  strife, 
by  increasing  food  for  gossip,  on  which  busybodies  thrive  and 
multiply.  Their  difficulties  were  augmented  by  the  fact  that  all 
of  them  were  entirely  inexperienced  in  church  discipline,  or 
housekeeping,  and  therefore  did  not  know  how  to  help  themselves 
out  of  their  troubles,  or  to  avoid  getting  into  new  complications. 
The  different  nationalities,  each  having  its  peculiar  manners  of 
conduct,  and  all  more  or  less  prejudiced  to  their  own,  in  pro- 
portion to  their  intelligence  and  experience,  also  greatly  hindered 
harmony  of  action  in  church  work.  And  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  enemy  profited  by  this  state  of  dissension  among  them, 
in  bringing  on  the  work  of  persecution,  as  it  afforded  occasion 
for  accusations  of  apostasy.  But  the  saddest  part  of  the  above 
affair  is  that  it  did  not  end  at  Krefeld.  Although  persecuted 
from  place  to  place,  some  to  Friesland,  some  to  Holland,  still  a 
disposition  of  wrangling  was  maintained,  though  somewhat  modi- 
fied by  their  afflictions  from  without. 

About  1 7 19  a.  dv  twenty  or  more  families  fled  to  America.  On 
board  the  ship  they  revived  their  discussions,  which  resulted  in 
such  bitter  contentions  that  some  of  the  families  were  totally 
estranged  to  each  other  before  they  landed.  Thus  they  brought 
with  them  to  the  New  World  the  German  "leaven  of  malice,"  as 
well  as  the  Christian  spirit  of  brotherly  love.  As  a  natural  result, 
they  dispersed  to  different  parts  of  the  country  when  landing  on 
the  shores  of  America.  Some  of  them  hoped  to  get  rid  of  their 
troubles  in  alienation  from  those  with  whom  they  had  been  con- 
tending, but  each  took  with  him  the  essential  part  of  their  faith 
and  practice.  Thus,  again  did  good  come  out  of  evil,  for  thereby 
was  the  Word  of  God  spread  abroad.  The  only  serious  hindrance 
to  divine  progress  to  individuals  resulting  from  this  state  of 
affairs,  was  that  which  comes  from  not  assembling  of  themselves 
together,  the  loss  of  brotherly  exhortation  and  admonition. 
This  some  of  them  soon  began  to  realize  in  a  longing  for  the 
sweet  associations  of  kindred  spirits  and  brotherly  intercourse. 
Others  endeavored  to  keep  up  the  life  within  by  social  and 
domestic  worship,  while  many,  alas !  suffered  the  lamp  to  burn 
dry  and  the  light  to  die  out  and  become  "great  darkness." 


CHAPTER  VII 

FIRST  WORK  IN  AMERICA 

The  first  emigrants  from  the  mother  church  in  Germany 
arrived  in  America  in  the  autumn  of  17 19.  Their  number 
included  at  least  parts  of  about  twenty  families.  They  embarked 
on  a  large  Flemish  vessel,  at  Friesland,  with  a  number  of  other 
passengers.  The  voyage  was  to  them,  and  to  the  New  World,  to 
which  it  brought  them,  an  eventful  one.  It  introduced  them  to  a 
land  of  religious  freedom,  and  gave  to  the  country  a  people  who 
would  become  one  of  its  most  useful  and  influential  factors.  In 
Chapter  VI  reference  is  made  to  certain  dissensions  among 
them,  which  were  discussed  during  navigation,  resulting  in  an 
estrangement  of  that  brotherly  feeling  that  had  at  first  existed 
among  them.  Nevertheless,  they  still  maintained  Christian  char- 
ity, which  always  characterized  God's  true  followers, —  a  childlike 
simplicity,  a  forgiving  disposition,  and  faithfulness  to  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  Their  fidelity  to  their  religion  is  proven 
by  an  incident  that  occurred  during  the  voyage.  A  furious  storm 
arose,  which  threatened  the  destruction  of  the  vessel.  The  sails 
were  lowered,  and  much  of  the  merchandise  was  thrown  over- 
board, all  to  no  avail.  Meanwhile  the  brethren  were  in  their 
quarters,  in  the  hold  of  the  ship,  unitedly  pleading  with  their 
heavenly  Father,  who  needeth  but  to  speak  the  word,  "Peace, 
be  still,"  and  the  winds  and  the  waves  must  obey  His  will.  The 
captain,  in  his  despair,  or  more  likely  directed  by  Providence, 
went  to  the  humble  apartment  of  the  devoted  Tunkers,  and, 
behold,  they  were  praying  and  singing,  as  unconcerned  as  though 
the  sea  were  quiet.  He  did  not  rebuke  them  for  indifference  to 
their  fates,  as  Peter  did  our  Savior.  He  was  impressed  with 
their  pious  devotion  and  serene  calmness,  and  himself  caught 
the  inspiration  of  hope.  He  immediately  returned  to  his  post, 
and  encouraged  his  crew,  declaring  that  Almighty  God  would 
not  suffer  a  ship  to  perish  with  such  pious  people  on  board. 

(123) 


124  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

With  this  assurance,  all  worked  together,  the  storm  soon  abated, 
the  sea  calmed,  and  the  passage  was  completed. 

The  ship  which  brought  the  first  emigrants  to  this  country 
landed  at  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  autumn  of  the  year 
1 7 19.  Immediately  upon  reaching  shore  they  scattered  abroad, 
seeking  homes  for  themselves  and  their  families.  The  leading 
peculiarity  of  the  pure  German  citizen  is  to  get  a  home  and  keep 
it,  that  the  home  may  keep  him.  Some  remained  at  Philadelphia, 
some  went  to  Germantown,  the  others  to  Skippack,  Oley,  and 
Connestoga.  Peter  Becker,  whom  we  will  call  Baker  hereafter, 
settled  near  Germantown,  on  a  twenty-acre  farm,  where  he 
remained  for  twenty-seven  years.  He  had  been  the  leader  of  the 
first  company  of  emigrants,  and  was  destined  to  lead  them  in 
other  ways.  He  was  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  but  did  not  preach 
publicly  for  several  years.  No  doubt  he  had  plenty  to  do  at 
home,  in  the  new  country,  as  he  was  by  trade  a  weaver.  The 
first  three  years  of  their  existence  in  this  country  is  entirely 
lost  to  the  history  of  the  church.  Yet  no  doubt,  like  some  of 
the  sand  rivers  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  the  current  continued 
to  flow  onward.  Such  a  life  of  inactivity  was  very  unsatisfactory 
to  Brother  Baker,  especially,  and  we  are  told  also  to  Brethren 
John  Gomery,  Balser  Gantz,  and  Henry  Traut.  Brother  Baker 
was  much  enthused  by  an  apprentice  whom  he  took  into  his 
employ  and  into  his  family  as  well.  He  was  a  recent  refugee 
from  Germany,  by  the  name  of  Conrad  Beissel.  He  was  a 
religious  enthusiast,  although  he  did  not  belong  to  Baker's  church 
at  that  time.  They  kept  up  a  continued  religious  conversation, 
day  and  night,  interspersed  with  numerous  seasons  of  worship. 
In  the  latter,  the  above-mentioned  brethren,  Gomery,  Gantz,  and 
Traut,  frequently  joined  them.  Beissel  greatly  increased  their 
religious  enthusiasm  by  relating  his  experience  in  the  persecu- 
tions in  the  fatherland.  He  told  them  all  about  the  sufferings 
of  their  brethren  and  friends  across  the  deep  waters,  until  their 
zeal  had  been  wrought  up  to  a  high  pitch.  They  held  frequent 
meetings  to  devise  some  plan  by  which  those  of  like  faith  in  the 
community  might  be  brought  together   for  public  worship  and 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  1 25 

reconciliation.  In  this  effort  Beissel  encouraged  them,  and  rec- 
ommended that  Peter  Baker  should  take  one  or  more  of  the 
brethren  with  him,  and  make  a  house-to-house  canvass  of  all  the 
families  who  had  been  members  of  the  church  in  Germany,  and 
more  especially  of  those  residing  within  meeting  distance  of 
each  other.  Now,  the  reader  must  not  conclude  that  this  implied 
those  residing  in  the  same  town,  or  township,  or  county,  or  even 
within  a  ''Sabbath  day's  journey," — fourteen  miles.  The  coun- 
try mentioned  was  not  in  17 19  to  1722  as  it  is  now  in  1901.  Phil- 
adelphia and  Germantown  were  then  villages,  with  six  miles  of 
wildwood  between  them.  Where  now  are  fine,  beautiful  towns 
and  cities,  were  marshes,  bogs,  and  swamps,  as  will  be  observed 
when  naming  congregations  and  places.  They  felt  assured  that 
if  they  could  get  the  members  together  but  for  one  single  occa- 
sion, to  mingle  their  voices  in  the  worship  of  God  in  song  and 
prayer,  all  their  differences  would  melt  away  as  the  fogs  dis- 
perse before  the  rays  of  the  sun. 

Finally  the  mission  was  agreed  upon,  and  all  the  preparatory 
arrangements  completed,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  year  a.  d.  1722 
their  long-prayed-for  effort  was  put  into  execution.  Peter  Baker, 
John  Gomery,  and  George  Balser  Gantz  were  commissioned  to 
perform  this  visit  of  love  in  the  interest  of  peace  and  union 
between  brethren.  This  is  recorded  as  having  been  the  first 
home  mission  work  performed  in  America  by  any  religious  peo- 
ple. They  traversed  the  regions  of  Skippack,  Falcomer's  Swamp, 
Oley,  and  other  places.  They  met  the  brethren  and  sisters  at 
their  homes,  prayed  and  worshiped  with  them,  and  fully  explained 
the  nature  and  intent  of  their  mission,  extending  on  their  part 
the  olive  branch  of  forgiveness  and  complete  reconciliation 
unconditionally.  This  effort  was  wonderfully  blessed.  Meet- 
ings for  public  worship  were  held  in  many  places,  attended  with 
a  general  revival  of  brotherly  affection.  The  missionaries  them- 
selves were  also  greatly  blessed,  and  determined  to  make  an 
effort  of  the  same  nature  in  their  own  neighborhood.  A  time 
was  agreed  upon,  and  an  appointment  was  made  at  the  house  of 
Peter  Baker.     This  was  the  first  public  worship  and  preaching 


126  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

service  they  had  held,  in  that  community,  since  their  arrival  in 
the  New  World.  The  following  Sunday  they  met  at  Brother 
Gomery's.  Services  were  continued,  alternating-  between  the  two 
places,  until  winter  set  in,  when  the  services  were  discontinued  on 
account  of  the  want  of  suitable  accommodations  to  entertain  the 
people. 

The  next  year,  as  soon  as  fair  weather  had  settled,  the  work 
was  again  taken  up  with  renewed  vigor,  and  continued  thence- 
forth, but  the  meetings  were  held  at  Baker's  only,  perhaps  because 
he  had  the  most  convenient  house  for  the  purpose. 

In  August  of  this  same  year  quite  a  sensation  was  created  in 
the  neighborhood,  by  the  report  that  Christian  Libe  had  arrived 
from  Germany.  As  it  was  known  that  he  was  an  able  minister, 
and  had  been  persecuted,  and  had  been  compelled  to  serve  as  a 
galley  slave  for  several  years,  it  may  well  be  imagined  what  an 
interest  would  be  awakened  by  such  a  report.  There  was  also 
quite  an  awakening  among  the  brethren  along  the  Schuylkill 
River  about  this  time,  where  the  Hermits  of  the  Ridge  had  been 
holding  meetings.  The  Schuylkill  brethren,  hearing  of  Brother 
Libe's  coming,  went  to  Philadelphia  to  meet  him,  but  they  were 
disappointed,  as  the  report  was  false.  The  Germantown  brethren 
then  persuaded  this  committee  of  the  brethren,  who  had  been 
sent  to  meet  Brother  Libe,  to  tarry  with  them  several  days,  and 
attend  their  services.  They  readily  accepted  the  invitation,  and 
appeared  to  greatly  enjoy  the  meetings,  as  well  as  the  associa- 
tions of  their  brethren.  The  pleasure  of  association  was  mutual, 
but  the  visitors  were  especially  entertained  and  edified  by  the 
reports  of  the  persecutions  and  trials  of  the  churches  and  mem- 
bers in  Germany,  as  related  to  them  and  read  from  letters 
received  by  the  Germantown  people.  They  must  have  been  well 
pleased,  for  they  repeated  their  visit  a  short  time  afterwards, 
and  secured  a  promise  of  ministerial  service  from  Brother  Baker 
and  others,  which  was  fulfilled  the  following  month. 

These  good  men  had  come  full  of  hope  and  expectation  to  meet 
their  persecuted  brother  from  the  fatherland,  and  to  hear  from 
his  lips  the  tales  of  his  sufferings,  and  to  have  him  tell  the  sweet 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA,  1 27 

story  of  the  cross  in  their  mother  tongue  in  the  strange  country 
whither  they  had  strayed.  In  this  they  were  disappointed,  but 
they  did  not  find  other  brethren  of  like  feelings,  with  whom  they 
could  tarry  awhile  and  worship.  They  could  say,  with  Joseph 
of  old,  The  originator  of  the  false  report  of  the  coming  of  Brother 
Libe  meant  it  for  ill  toward  us,  but  the  Lord  has  turned  it  into 
a  blessing.  And  how  their  hearts  must  have  throbbed  with  emo- 
tion of  pure  gratitude  as  they  joined  in  the  worship  at  the  family 
altar  of  Elder  Peter  Baker,  and  sang  in  familiar  melody  their  own 
sweet  song  of  thanksgiving: — 

"Grosz  ist  unsers  Gottes  Guete; 
Seine  Treu  taeglich  neu 
Ruehret  mein  Gemuethe; 
Sende  Herr,  den  Geist  von  oben, 
Dasz  jetz  und,  Herz  und  Mund, 
Deane  Guete  loben." 

Translation: 

Great  is  the  goodness  of  our  God; 
His  faithfulness  daily  renewed 
Incites  my  admiration; 
Lord,  send  the  Spirit  from  above, 
That,  now  and  ever,  heart  and  tongue 
May  sing  thy  loving-kindness. 

While  enjoying  this  unexpected  feast  of  good  things,  they 
could  all  the  better  realize  what  it  is  to  be  children  of  one  Father, 
and  "how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell 
together  in  unity." 

This  first  mission  of  love  was  greatly  blessed,  and  several  per- 
sons were  brought  under  conviction  and  demanded  to  be  baptized. 
But  they  felt  themselves  too  unworthy  to  perform  this  solemn 
rite  without  being  especially  commissioned  thereunto.  It  appears 
that  the  church  in  Europe  had  not  been  fully  organized,  or 
Brother  Baker  did  not  fully  appreciate  his  privileges,  or,  perhaps, 
he  was  unnecessarily  timid.  We  are  also  told  that  their  late 
estrangement  still  haunted  them,  and  insinuated  that  they  had 
better  first  heal  themselves,  or  remove  the  beams  from  their  own 
eyes,  before  they  would  undertake  to  help  others  into  a  better  life. 


128  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

While  they  regarded  themselves  as  constituting  a  branch  of  the 
church  at  Krefeld,  they  felt  the  need  of  better  organization,  in 
order  that  they  might  exercise  in  all  the  ordinances  of  the  house 
of  the  Lord.  And  this  very  serious  dilemma  was  the  occasion  of 
completely  unifying  them  and  fully  establishing  them  for  their 
work.  They  took  the  matter  into  prayerful  consideration, 
renewed  their  own  baptismal  vows,  and  reiterated  their  forgive- 
ness of  each  other's  faults  and  trespasses,  and  plighted  their 
faith  in  God  and  their  love  for  each  other.  Peter  Baker  was 
authorized  to  perform  the  service  of  baptism,  he  being  the  choice 
of  the  applicants.  So,  after  all  the  preliminary  services  had 
been  attended  to,  they  resorted  to  the  Wissahicon  Creek,  early  in 
the  morning  of  December  25,  1723,  where  the  six  converts 
referred  to  were  baptized.  Their  names  were,  Martin  Urner  and 
wife,  Henry  Landis  and  wife,  Frederick  Long,  and  John  Maylie. 
These  were  the  first  persons  baptized  by  the  Tunker  brethren  in 
America. 

The  same  day,  December  25,  1723,  they  organized  themselves 
into  a  congregation,  and  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day  a  love- 
feast  was  held  at  the  house  of  John  Gomery.  Twenty-three  per- 
sons participated  in  the  communion  services.  They  were :  Peter 
Baker,  Henry  Traut,  Jeremiah  Traut,  Balser  Traut,  Henry  Hol- 
soppel,  John  Gomery,  Stephen  Koch,  Jacob  Koch,  John  Hilde- 
brand,  Daniel  Ritter,  George  Balser  Gantz,  John  Preisz,  Joseph 
Kaempfer,  Magdalena  Traut,  Anna  Gomery,  Maria  Hildebrand, 
and  Joanna  Gantz,  and  the  six  who  had  been  baptized  in  the  morn- 
ing, making  in  all  twenty-three  persons,  seventeen  brethren  and 
six  sisters.  Thus,  we  have  the  first  organization  of  the  Tunker 
Church,  the  first  baptism  administered,  and  the  first  communion 
celebrated  in  America,  all  on  the  same  day,  and  that  on  the  natal 
day  of  our  Redeemer,  in  the  seventeen  hundred  and  twenty-third 
year  of  His  own  dispensation. 

Quite  a  revival  followed  the  organization  for  a  year  or  more. 
Their  services  were  so  largely  attended  that  they  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  provide  accommodations  for  all  the  people.  The  meet- 
ings were  also  full  of  interest  and  followed  with  good  results. 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  1 29 

Many  of  the  young  people,  and  especially  their  own  children, 
were  converted,  which  was  very  encouraging  to  parents  as  well 
as  to  the  ministers.  Nor  was  the  revival  confined  to  this  one 
neighborhood,  but  it  spread  over  the  entire  colony.  They  also 
held  frequent  love-feasts,  which  were  something  so  much  out  of 
the  regular  order  of  religious  service  that  they  attracted  much 
attention,  and  created  deep  interest  and  investigation  of  religious 
subjects  and  study  of  the  Scriptures.  All  this  research  would 
invariably  result  favorably  to  the  Tunker  cause.  It  always  does. 
In  this  case  it  was  the  occasion  of  numerous  accessions  to  the 
congregation  organized,  and  of. establishing  others  in  the  adjacent 
communities.  And  still  more,  the  inspiration  was  sent  abroad  in 
numerous  letters,  and  a  special  epistle  was  prepared  in  the  name 
of  the  church  in  America  to  the  church  in  Germany,  giving  a  full 
account  of  the  glorious  work  the  Lord  was  performing  among 
them,  following  their  reconciliation. 

After  several  years  of  activity,  the  interest  abated  in  this  coun- 
try. Meanwhile  the  inspiration  was  working  up  among  indi- 
vidual members  in  the  mother  church  in  Schwarzenau. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  Tunkers  so  far  must  be  understood 
as  relating  to  the  church  in  general.  As  a  congregation,  the 
above  organization  was  called  the  Beggarstown  church. 

ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    FIRST    CONGREGATION     IN    AMERICA. 

Beggarstozvn. — The  first  properly-organized  Church  of  the 
Brethren  in  America  was  that  of  Beggarstown,  a  small  village 
about  two  miles  west  of  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  and  about 
eight  miles  from  Philadelphia.  Its  name  originated  from  a  beg- 
gar by  the  name  of  John  Pettikoffer,  who  had  a  lot  of  ground 
there.  By  begging,  he  procured  means  to  build  a  small  house  on 
it  in  the  spring  of  1731.  Other  houses  were  erected  in  the 
vicinity,  making  a  small  village,  which  was  called  Beggarstown. 
This  town  and  Germantown  soon  grew  together,  and  are  called 
Germantown.  After  the  death  of  Pettikoffer,  this  property  came 
into  possession  of  Brother  Peter  Schilbert,  an  old  and  well- 
established  member  of  the  fraternity.     In  1760  he  made  a  present 


130  'HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

of  the  old  building  and  eighty  rods  of  the  land  to  the  church  for 
a  place  of  worship  and  a  burying-ground.  He  had  it  formally 
conveyed  to  the  church  by  Theobald  Endt  and  Henry  SlinglufT, 
in  a  deed  of  trust  to  Christopher  Saur,  Alexander  Mack,  Peter 
Seibert,  and  George  Schreiber,  trustees,  under  date  of  August 
12,  1760. 


OLD    GERMANTOWN     PARSONAGE 

At  the  confiscation  of  Christopher  Saur's  property  during  the 
Revolutionary  War,  1778,  this  property  narrowly  escaped  con- 
fiscation, but  Brethren  Fox  and  Seibert  interested  themselves  and 
saved  it.  Their  plea  was  that  it  was  not  Saur's  property,  and 
that  he  only  held  it  in  trust.  The  soldiers  reluctantly  consented, 
because  Brother  Saur  occupied  the  loft  of  the  house  as  the 
storage  place  for  Bibles  and  other  books,  before  they  went  to  the 
binders.  Most  of  the  sheets  for  books  were  scattered  to  the 
winds  by  the  soldiers. 

In  this  house  the  brethren  held  their  regular  worship  until  1770, 
when  their  increased  number  required  larger  accommodations. 
They  again  converted  the  house  into  a  dwelling-place  for  the 


OLD    AND    NEW    GERMANTOWN    CHURCHES 


132  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

wardens  of  the  church,  and  built  a  meeting-house  of  stone,  thirty 
feet  square,  on  the  same  lot,  a  little  back  of  the  old  dwelling. 
Both  of  those  buildings  are  still  in  reasonable  condition  (a.  d. 
1899),  and  have  been  occupied  ever  since  as  houses  of  worship, 
and  the  ground  is  used  for  burial  purposes. 

The  first  appearance  of  brethren  in  America  was  in  the  fall  of 
17 19,  when  about  twenty  families  of  the  persecuted  flock  at 
Schwarzenau  emigrated  to  this  country,  hoping  to  find  an  asylum 
of  peace  and  safety  from  their  persecutors  in  Germany.  They 
landed  at  Philadelphia,  but  dispersed  themselves,  some  to  Ger- 
mantown,  some  to  Skippack,  some  to  Oley,  some  to  Conestoga, 
and  elsewhere.  This  dispersion  incapacitated  them  for  meeting 
for  public  worship,  and  so  they  soon  grew  lukewarm,  then  cold. 

In  a.  d.  1722,  Brethren  Baker,  Gomery,  and  Gantz  visited  the 
scattered  brethren  in  their  various  dispersions,  with  a  view  of  min- 
istering to  their  spiritual  necessities.  Their  mission  was  attended 
with  blessed  effects,  and  a  revival  followed,  resulting  in  the  form- 
ing of  new  societies  wherever  a  number  of  families  were  in  reach 
of  each  other. 

On  December  25,  A.  d.  1723,  the  members  at  Germantown 
formed  a  society.  They  chose  Brother  Peter  Becker  to  be  their 
elder ;  and  on  the  same  evening  they  observed  the  ordinances  of 
feet  washing,  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  the  communion.  This  was 
also  the  first  time  that  these  ordinances  were  celebrated  in  Amer- 
ica. Those  who  constituted  this  organization  were  :  Peter  Becker, 
Henry  Traut,  Henry  Holtzapfel,  John  Gomery,  Jeremiah  Traut, 
Stephen  Rock,  John  Hildebrand,  Daniel  Ritter,  George  Balser 
Gantz,  Jacob  Koch,  John  Priesz,  John  Kaempfer,  Joanna  Gantz, 
Magdalena  Traut,  Anna  Gomery,  Maria  Hildebrand. 

From  this  small  beginning  some  moved  away,  some  died,  but 
the  number  kept  increasing.  In  1770,  when  their  new  meeting- 
house was  dedicated,  forty-seven  years  after  their  organization, 
they  numbered  fifty  members  in  forty  families.  The  additional 
members  at  this  time  were  the  following: — 

Christopher  Saur,  his  wife  and  son,  Elder  Alexander  Mack,  Jr., 
his  wife  and    daughter,    Margaret    Boyer,    deaconess,    George 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  1 33 

Schreiber  and  wife,  Nathaniel  Schreiber,  Catherine  Schreiber, 
Henry  Slingluff  and  his  two  daughters,  John  Slingluff  and 
wife,  Philip  Weaver  and  wife,  Peter  Seibert  and  wife, 
Anthony  Schneider  and  wife,  Richard  Roob,  Elizabeth  Roob, 
Michael  Keyser,  Peter  Keyser  and  wife,  Jacob  Bowman  and  wife, 
Justus  Fox  and  wife,  John  Kline,  Conrad  Guth,  Conrad  Stamm 
and  wife,  Hannah  Stamm,  Mary,  Sarah,  and  Susannah  Baker, 
Eva  Feith,  Elizabeth  Boyer,  Mary  Bossert,  Margaret  Hertzback, 
Magdalena  Mellinger,  Christian  Von  Delashet  and  wife,  William 
Spyra  and  wife,  Henry  Sharpneck  and  wife,  Mary  Nice,  Rudolph 
Harley  and  wife,  Mary  Fend,  Sybille  Endt. 

At  first  after  their  organization  (a.  d.  1723),  they  held  their 
meetings,  in  rotation,  at  the  residences  of  the  brethren.  Some  of 
them  were  poor,  had  small  dwellings,  and  they  labored  under 
inconveniences.  After  some  time,  Christopher  Saur,  a  man  of 
considerable  means  and  of  a  very  benevolent  character,  built  a 
large  new  house.  He  arranged  the  second  floor  on  purpose  for 
holding  meetings.  The  partitions  were  hung  on  hinges  fastened 
to  the  joists,  and  could  be  swung  open  when  more  room  was 
required.  Because  of  these  advantages,  the  meetings  were  gen- 
erally held  there,  until  increase  in  business  and  growth  of  family 
required  so  much  of  the  house  room  that  other  accommodations 
had  to  be  sought.  Then  the  above-named  Peter  Shilbert  kindly 
bestowed  the  Beggarstown  property,  where  the  meetings  have 
been  regularly  held  for  the  last  one  hundred  years. 

The  first  ordained  minister  of  this  church  was  Peter  Becker. 
For  a  complete  history  of  his  life  and  services,  see  Biographical 
Department. 

AN    IMPORTANT    IMPORTATION. 

On  the  15th  day  of  September,  1729,  the  church  in  America 
received  valuable  accessions  in  numbers  and  influence  by  the 
arrival  of  a  number  of  members  of  the  mother  church  from 
Schwarzenau,  where  persecution  was  raging  with  increasing 
fierceness.  They  had  first  fled  to  Krefeld,  and  from  there  to 
Holland.  From  Holland  about  thirty  families  emigrated  to 
America.     They  crossed  the  ocean  on  the  ship  Allen,  commanded 


134  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

by  James  Craige,  of  Rotterdam,  sailing  from  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
July  7,  1729.  They  had  a  boisterous  voyage,  lasting  seventy- 
one  days,  but  landed  safely  at  Philadelphia  on  the  day  above 
mentioned.  The  following  persons  were  among  the  number : 
Alexander  Mack  and  his  three  sons,  John,  Valentine,  and  Alex- 
ander;  Hans  Gunde,  Andrew  Bony,  John  Naas,  Antony  Dear- 
dorff,  Jacob  More,  Rudolph  Harley,  Johan  Peter  von  Laushe, 
Jacob  Bossert,  Jacob,  Henry,  and  Christopher  Kalkglcesser, 
Johannas  Kipping,  Willhelmus  Knepper,  Jacob  and  Mathias 
Schneider,  John  Pettekoffer,  Hans  and  George  Koch,  Reinhard 
Hammer,  with  their  wives  and  others. 

This  large  increase  of  membership,  and  especially  the  addition 
to  their  number  of  Elder  Mack  and  other  founders  of  the  church, 
wonderfully  encouraged  the  churches  in  America.  This  inspira- 
tion became  contagious,  and  resulted  in  the  organization  of  sev- 
eral new  congregations.  Among  them  were:  Oley,  in  1732; 
Great  Swamp,  1733;  Amwell,  New  Jersey,  1733;  Cocalico,  1735; 
White  Oak,  1736;  Little  Conowago,  1738;  Big  Conowago,  1741. 
For  particulars  in  regard  to  those  several  organizations,  see 
"History  of  the  First  Churches  in  America." 

Some  time  afterwards  the  Pettikoffer  property  came  into  the 
possession  of  Brother  Peter  Schilbert,  an  old  and  honorable  mem- 
ber of  the  church.  He  presented  the  building  to  the  congrega- 
tion for  a  house  of  worship,  and  eighty  perches  of  land  for  a 
graveyard.  It  is  deeded  to  the  church  by  Theobald  Endt  and 
Henry  Slingluff,  under  the  date  of  August  12,  1760,  in  trust  of 
Christopher  Saur,  Alexander  Mack,  Peter  Shilbert,  and  George 
Shreiber,  trustees.  The  partitions  were  taken  out  of  the  house, 
and  the  entire  building  converted  into  an  audience  room.  It  was 
used  for  church  purposes  until  1770,  when  it  became  too  small 
to  accommodate  the  increased  attendance  at  their  services.  This 
property  narrowly  escaped  confiscation,  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  in  1778.  Christopher  Saur  being  the  first-named  trustee 
in  the  deed,  and  because  he  had  stored  in  the  loft  printed  sheets 
of  Bibles,  it  was  seized,  with  his  personal  property,  all  of  which 
was    condemned     and     taken    bv    the     government.      However, 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  1 35 

through  the  interposition  of  the  other  trustees,  who  could  easily 
establish  their  claims,  the  property  was  saved  to  the  church.  But 
Brother  Saur's  printed  sheets  of  Bibles  and  other  books,  await- 
ing the  binders,  of  which  there  were  several  tons,  were  all 
destroyed.  Some  of  the  paper  was  used  for  bedding  the  army 
horses,  and  some  for  making  cartridges  by  the  soldiers. 

THE    EPHRATAH     MOVEMENT. 

The  author  of  this  work  is  not  in  sympathy  with  any  part  of 
doctrine  wherein  the  Ephratah  faction  differs  from  the  main  body 
of  the  Tunker  fraternity.  For  a  period  of  ten  years  or  more  after 
the  work  was  fully  organized  at  Ephratah,  say  from  1730  to  1740, 
they  were  the  more  influential  and  leading  faction  of  the  body. 
And  had  it  not  been  for  the  prominence  they  gave  to  the  errors 
of  celibacy  and  the  seventh  day,  they  might  have  held  their  hard- 
earned  prestige.  Their  consecration,  devotion,  piety,  spirituality, 
systematic,  stated,  yes,  constant  worship,  in  prayer,  song,  and 
exhortation  and  admonition,  was  so  rapturously  inspiring  as  to 
be  almost  irresistible.  It  is  related  of  several  of  the  old  mem- 
bers, while  on  their  first  visit  to  the  Ephratah  service,  that 
during  a  private  conversation  about  what  they  were  seeing 
and  hearing,  one  had  made  the  remark,  "It  will  be  difficult  for 
you  to  get  me  away  from  this  heaven-like  place."  Their  music 
must  have  been  enchanting,  from  the  description  given  by  Dr. 
Fahnestock,  in  Belcher's  history,  elsewhere  referred  to.  And 
from  my  own  personal  experience  I  have  good  reasons  to  believe 
he  has  not  in  the  least  exaggerated  the  subject.  I  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  hearing  a  choir  from  Snowhill,  Antietam,  Nunnery  on 
several  occasions,  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Enterprise,  Bedford 
County,  Pennsylvania,  when  I  was  a  young  man.  And  such 
inspiring  singing  I  never  heard  anywhere  else.  I  can  not  under- 
stand why  it  should  be  lost.  There  was  nothing  supernatural 
about  it ;  nothing  but  cold  science,  accompanied  by  the  devotion 
which  the  performance  itself  would  inspire.  A  fortune  awaits  the 
church  choir,  or  operatic  troupe,  that  will  revive  it  and  traverse 
the  United  States.     I  walked  a  distance  of  twelve  miles  and  back, 


136  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

to  hear  it,  and  would  cheerfully  repeat  the  trip,  if  possible,  to 
enjoy  a  similar  occasion. 

The  life  at  Ephratah  and  Snowhill,  barring  the  restraint,  might 
be  said  to  have  been  one  continued  enraptured  spiritual  enjoy- 
ment, to  all  who  were  religiously  inclined. 

The  foregoing  sketch  was  written  almost  entirely  from  data 
furnished  us  for  this  work  by  Abraham  H.  Cassel,  of  Harleys- 
ville,  Pennsylvania,  the  Tunker  antiquarian  of  the  nineteenth 
century.     We  believe  the  things  set  forth  as  facts  to  be  correct. 

By  way  of  explanation,  but  not  for  apology,  as  an  introduction 
to  the  following  chapter,  we  wish  to  state  that  until  the  actual 
and  official  separating  of  the  two  factions  of  the  Tunkers,  we 
shall  consider  them  in  all  particulars  equal  and  equally  entitled 
to  recognition.  True,  it  is  probable  that  the  Sabbatarians  were 
greatly  in  the  minority,  even  in  their  most  prosperous  period. 

In  "Religious  Denominations  in  the  United  States,"  by  Joseph 
Belcher,  D.  D.,  and  published  by  J.  E.  Potter,  1855,  may  be  found 
the  data  for  the  following  chapter.  Mr.  Belcher  acknowledges 
his  indebtedness  for  the  facts  set  forth  therein  to  Dr.  W.  M. 
Fahnestock,  of  Bordentown,  New  Jersey,  who,  he  says,  "Is  more 
fully  acquainted  with  them  than  any  other  man/'  A  letter 
addressed  to  Doctor  Fahnestock,  or  any  lineal  descendant,  by  the 
author  of  this  work,  brought  a  reply  from  Mrs.  M.  F.  Reed, 
Allegheny,  Penn.,  one  of  Doctor  Fahnestock's  daughters.  From 
her  letter  we  learn  that  Doctor  Fahnestock  died  in  December. 
1854;  that  the  article  for  Doctor  Belcher's  history  was  written 
shortly  before  his  death.  The  statements  made  by  Doctor 
Fahnestock  must  therefore  be  taken  as  current  about  1850- 1854. 
Doctor  Fahnestock  was  a  member  of  the  Seventh-day  Baptist 
Church,  and  therefore  knew  whereof  he  wrote.  The  reader  will 
please  remember  these  facts  when  perusing  the  chapter,  and 
especially  note  the  dates  of  occurrences  specified  by  the  term 
"present  time." 

EPHRATAH. 

"This  is  the  name  of  a  village  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania.    It  is  about  forty-five  miles    a  little  north  of  west  from 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  137 

Philadelphia,  and  about  thirty-five  miles  a  little  south  of  east 
from  Harrisburg.  In  1722  the  Tunkers  made  an  evangelizing 
tour  through  this  section,  and  seemed  to  meet  with  success,  and 
felt  very  much  encouraged.  Upon  due  consideration,  they  con- 
cluded to  make  a  second  effort.  October  23,  1724,. was  fixed  as 
the  time  to  start  on  this  mission  of  love.  They  visited  their 
brethren  in  different  places  until  they  came  to  Oley.  Here  they 
learned  of  several  persons  at  Conestoga  who  were  desirous  to 
hear  God's  Word  expounded.  The  brethren  went  there,  reach- 
ing the  home  of  Henry  Hoehn  on  the  evening  of  November  n. 
They  went  to  work  at  once.  On  the  next  day  they  held  services 
there,  and  Brother  Peter  Becker  baptized  the  following  seven 
persons:  Conrad  Beisel,  V.  Frederick,  Henry  Hoehn  and  wife, 
John  Mayer  and  wife,  and  Joseph  Schoefer.  The  balance  of  the 
day  was  improved  in  exhortation  and  prayer,  and  in  the  evening 
they  observed  the  Lord's  Supper  and  communion.  These  serv- 
ices were  held  at  the  home  of  Brother  Hoehn.  At  the  same  meet- 
ing a  church  was  organized,  and  they  chose  Conrad  Beisel  to  be 
their  minister.  This  was  at  Mill  Creek.  After  closing  the 
meeting  they  went  about  three  miles  northward,  into  Earl  Town- 
ship, and  pitched  on  the  land  of  Rudolph  Nageley.  Here  there 
was  something  winning,  temporarily,  socially,  and  religiously,  so 
that  they  remained  about  nine  years.  They  succeeded  in  arous- 
ing an  interest,  and  many  went  to  see  them  and  to  become 
acquainted  with  their  faith  and  practice.  Many  were  so  well 
satisfied,  and  so  much  impressed  with  what  they  saw  and  heard, 
that  they  united  with  them.  Here,  also,  they  began  their  'Econ- 
omy.' Men  lived  by  themselves,  on  lands  of  Rudolph  Nageley ; 
and  women,  likewise,  by  themselves,  on  the  land  of  John  Mayly. 
Two  elders  and  a  matron  (deaconess)  were  appointed  by  Elder 
Beisel  to  watch  over  this  body  in  the  wilderness.  He  gave  to 
each  a  New  Testament,  and  had  them  make  a  solemn  promise 
to  govern,  or  oversee,  according  to  the  teachings  of  that  Book. 
Then  he  left,  as  though  they  should  not  see  him  again.  This 
was  in  1733. 
"Elder  Beisel  then   went   northward,   through   the   wilderness, 


133  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

until  he  arrived  at  the  place  where  Ephratah  now  stands.  In  some 
way  he  was  so  allured  with  the  place  that  he  made  this  his  stop- 
ping-place, and,  as  it  was  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  he  planted 
Indian  corn  and  roots  for  means  of  future  subsistence.  He  was 
here  but  a  short  time  until  his  brethren  found  and  visited  him  in 
his  cot.  They  settled  with  him,  the  brethren  on  the  west  side 
of  Cocalico  River,  and  the  sisters  on  the  opposite  side.  They  lived 
in  sight  of  each  other,  but  the  river  ran  between  them. 

"In  1734  they  commenced  the  building  of  a  village.  This  vil- 
lage became  Ephratah,  and  was  afterward  denominated  'Dunkard 
Town.'  In  the  beginning  there  were  only  temporary  places  of 
public  worship.  This  tract  of  land,  of  about  155  acres,  was  in  a 
triangle  formed  by  the  Paxton  and  Lancaster  roads  and  Cocalico 
River.  The  village  contained  between  thirty  and  forty  buildings, 
and  within  it  there  were  three  places  of  worship.  One  was  called 
Sharon,  a  chapel  adjoining  the  sisters'  apartment.  Another,  also 
a  chapel,  was  called  Bethany.  It  belonged  to  the  apartments  of 
the  brethren.  To  these  they  resorted  for  worship  every  morning 
and  evening,  and  often  in  the  night-time,  each  in  its  proper 
department.  The  third  was  a  common  church,  and  it  was  called 
Zion.  This  was  on  the  summit  of  a  little  hill,  about  two  hundred 
yards  from  the  others.  In  this  house  the  single  brethren  and 
single  sisters,  the  married  people  and  their  children,  would 
assemble  promiscuously,  once  a  week,  for  public  worship.  The 
brethren  adopted  the  dress  of  the  White  Friars,  with  some  modi- 
fications, and  the  sisters  were  required  to  be  nuns  ;  and  both  took 
the  vow  of  celibacy.  Somehow  they  disregarded  their  vows,  quit 
their  cells,  and  went  into  the  neighborhood  of  married  people. 
The  brethren  all  wore  their  beards.  They  cultivated  their  land 
for  a  living.  They  had  a  grist-mill,  a  sawmill,  an  oil-mill,  a 
paper-mill,  and  a  printing  office.  The  sisters  engaged  in  sewing, 
knitting,  spinning,  and  weaving,  etc. 

"At  first  they  slept  on  board  couches,  with  blocks  of  wood  for 
pillows.  Afterward  they  introduced  beds,  and  otherwise  aban- 
doned their  former  severity.  They  observed  the  seventh  day  of 
the   week   for  their   Sabbath,   to   which   their   founder,    Brother 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  1 39 

Conrad  Beisel,  had  been  proselyted  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Rutter, 
a  minister  in  an  extinct  branch  of  the  Seventh-day  Baptists,  who 
were  disciples  of  the  celebrated  Abel  Noble.  From  their 
uncouth  dress  and  their  esthetic  life,  somber  appearances  and 
rough  manners  might  naturally  be  expected,  but  the  facts  were 
to  the  contrary.  A  smiling  innocence  and  charming  meekness 
were  said  to  have  graced  their  countenances,  and  a  softness  of 
tone  and  accent  added  interest  to  their  conversation.  Their 
deportment  was  gentle  and  obliging.  Their  singing  was  enchant- 
ing, partly  on  account  of  the  melodious  voices,  the  variety  and 
number  of  the  parts  they  sang,  and  the  devout  manner  in  which 
they  performed  it.  The  number  of  their  members  was  varied, 
because  many  of  them,  when  their  first  flame  of  devotion  began 
to  subside,  would  become  dissatisfied  with  their  rigidity,  and 
would  leave  them.  Others,  on  account  of  their  charming  sim- 
plicity, would  so  fall  in  love  with  them  as  to  seek  admission, 
which  caused  their  number  to  constantly  fluctuate.  Then,  as 
celibacy  was  considered  to  be  such  a  great  virtue,  a  marriage 
was  barely  sanctioned,  and  consequently  they  had  but  little 
increase  from  consanguinity.  However,  in  1769,  about  the  time 
of  the  death  of  their  founder,  there  were  about  forty  families 
belonging  to  them,  with  135  members,  including  single  brethren 
and  sisters.  The  number  of  their  single  brethren  then  was  only 
fourteen,  and  their  names  were :  Henry  Bendle,  Jacob  Eiker, 
Marcus  Groff,  Samuel  Furtk,  Jacob  Funk,  John  Hupple,  Jacob 
Kimmel,  William  Lebracht,  Peter  Miller,  John  Moyley,  Jacob 
Moyer,  George  Miller,  Christian  Reb,  John  Reesman. 

"Their  first  minister,  as  before  stated,  was  Conrad  Beisel.  This 
was  his  real  name,  but  when  he  became  a  brother,  he  assumed  to 
himself  the  name  Friedsan  Gottrecht ;  and  he  gave  new  names 
to  all  the  brethren  and  sisters.  (See  biographical  sketch 
elsewhere.) 

"Elder  Beisel's  successor  was  Brother  Peter  Miller.  In  1735 
he  joined  the  Brethren ;  and  in  1744  he  was  ordained  to  the  min- 
istry by  Elder  Beisel,  to-  be  prior  of  the  society,  over  which  he 
presided  until  1790. 


I40  HISTORY    OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

"No  other  remarkalbe  event  happened  to  this  society,  except 
a  conspiracy,  which  Eckerlin,  their  first  prior,  had  formed  to  sup- 
plant the  founder.  He  had  seduced  the  brethren  to  his  purpose, 
and  began  to  tamper  with  the  sisters,  but  they  perceived  his 
design,  and  opposed  and  defeated  it.  Afterward  he  caused  some 
uneasiness  through  the  power  he  had  as  a  trustee  of  the  land. 

"The  number  of  brethren  and  sisters  in  celibacy  was  greatly 
reduced  after  the  death  of  the  founder,  and  from  that  time  onward 
gradually  diminished,  until  their  celibates,  as  a  class  or  order, 
became  extinct.  Afterward,  however,  a  society  somewhat  sim- 
ilar was  established  at  Antietam,  Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania. 

"Though  they  considered  contention  with  arms  and  at  law 
unbecoming  professors,  yet  they  were  decided  Whigs  in  the 
Revolution,  and,  unfortunately,  had  to  defend  themselves  too 
frequently  in  courts  of  justice.  To  set  an  example  of  forbearance 
and  Christian  meekness,  they  suffered  themselves  for  a  long  time 
to  be  wronged  and  plundered,  until  forbearance  was  no  longer  a 
virtue.  In  the  French  War  of  1756,  the  door  of  the  cloister, 
including  the  chapels,  meeting-room,  and  every  other  building, 
was  opened  as  a  refuge  for  the  inhabitants  of  Tulpehocken  and 
Paxton  settlements,  then  the  frontiers,  from  the  incursions  of 
the  hostile  Indians,  all  of  whom  were  received  and  kept  by  the 
society  during  the  period  of  alarm  and  danger.  Upon  hearing 
of  which  a  company  of  infantry  was  despatched  by  the  Royal 
Government  from  Philadelphia,  to  protect  Ephratah ;  and  on 
representation  of  the  character  of  the  society,  by  the  commis- 
sioners who  were  sent  to  visit  the  place,  the  government  made 
them  a  present  of  a  pair  of  very  large  communion  goblets,  which 
was  the  only  recompense  they  would  receive.  At  an  early  period 
they  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Penn  family,  and  one  of  the 
young  ladies,  in  England,  commenced  a  correspondence  with  the 
society.  Governor  Penn  visited  them  frequently,  and,  desirous 
of  giving  them  a  solid  evidence  of  his  regard,  had  a  tract  of  five 
thousand  acres  of  land  surrounding  Ephratah,  surveyed  and  con- 
veyed to  them,  as  the  Seventh-day  Baptist  Manor;  but  they 
refused  to  accept  it,  believing  that  large  possessions  were  cal- 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  141 

culated  to  engender  strife,  and  that  it  is  more  becoming  to  Chris- 
tian pilgrims  and  sojourners  not  to  be  absorbed  in  the  gains  of 
this  world  and  the  accumulations  of  property.  After  the  battle 
of  Brandywine  the  whole  establishment  was  opened  to  receive 
the  wounded  Americans,  great  numbers  of  whom  were  brought 
here  in  wagons,  a  distance  of  more  than  forty  miles,  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  of  whom  died,  and  are  buried  on  Mount  Zion. 
Their  doors  were  ever  open  to  the  weary  traveler,  and  all  visitors 
were  cordially  received  and  entertained  while  they  tarried,  as  is 
done  in  the  hospices  of  Europe.  All  supplies  were  given  to  the 
needy,  even  their  own  beds,  and  to  stripping  their  own  backs,  to 
afford  some  shelter  from  the  'peltings  of  the  pitiless  storm,'  to 
those  who  were  exposed  to  the  weather  in  inclement  seasons. 

"Many  of  the  brethren  being  men  of  education,  they  established 
at  a  very  early  period  a  school,  which  soon  gained  for  itself  an 
honorable  reputation,  many  young  men  from  Philadelphia  and 
Baltimore  being  sent  there  to  be  educated.  A  Sabbath-school 
was  also  instituted  for  religious  instructions,  which  flourished 
many  years,  and  was  attended  with  some  remarkable  conse- 
quences. It  produced  an  anxious  inquiry  among  the  juvenile 
population  who  attended  the  school,  which  increased,  and  grew 
into  what  is  now  called  a  revival  of  religion.  The  scholars  of 
the  Sabbath-school  met  together  every  day  before  and  after 
common-school  hours,  to  pray  and  exhort  one  another,  under 
the  superintendence  of  one  of  the  brethren.  The  excitement  ran 
into  excess,  and  betrayed  a  zeal  not  according  to  knowledge, 
which  induced  Friedsam  to  discourage  an  enterprise  which 
had  been  commenced  and  was  partly  under  way,  namely,  to  erect 
a  house  for  their  especial  use,  to  be  called  Succoth.  Ludwig 
Hoecker,  or  Brother  Obed,  as  he  was  designated,  who  was  the 
teacher  of  the  common  school,  projected  the  plan  of  holding  a 
school  in  the  afternoon  of  the  Sabbath,  and  he,  in  connection 
with  some  of  the  other  brethren,  commenced  it,  and  gave  instruc- 
tion to  some  of  the  indigent  children  who  were  kept  from  regular 
school  by  employments  which  their  necessities  compelled  them 
to  be  engaged  at  during  the  week,  as  well  as  to  give  religious 


I42  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

instruction  to  those  of  better  circumstances.  It  is  not  exactly 
known  in  what  year  the  Sabbath-school  was  commenced. 
Hoecker  came  to  Ephratah  in  the  year  1739,  and  it  is  presumed 
that  he  began  soon  after  he  took  up  his  residence  among  them. 
The  materials  for  the  building  were  furnished,  as  is  recorded  in 
the  minutes  of  the  society,  in  the  year  1749.  After  the  battle  of 
Brandywine,  the  Sabbath-school  room,  with  others,  was  given  up 
for  a  hospital,  which  was  occupied  as  such  for  some  time;  and 
the  school  was  never  afterwards  resumed.  Hoecker  at  that 
period  was  sixty  years  of  age. 

"By  1777  the  society  began  to  decline,  not  from  causes  alleged 
by  some  writers,  lack  of  vigor  in  the  successor  of  Beisel,  who 
died  in  1768;  for  his  successor,  Peter  Miller,  was  a  man  of  much 
greater  powers  of  mind,  and  had  the  management  of  the  estab- 
lishment during  Beisel's  time,  and  to  his  energy  and  perse- 
verance is  mainly  attributable  the  great  prosperity  of  the  institu- 
tion in  its  early  days.  The  institution  was  one  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  in  accordance  with  European  feelings,  most  of  the 
members  being  natives  of  Germany.  The  state  of  public  opinion 
at  Beisel's  death  was  widely  different  from  what  it  was  during 
the  first  fifty  years  after  it  was  established,  in  relation  to  politics 
and  government,  and  with  this  march  of  intellect  different  senti- 
ments were  entertained  in  regard  to  religious  institutions.  It 
was  commenced  as  a  social  community  in  the  midst  of  a  wilder- 
ness. The  hand  of  improvement  made  the  desert  bloom,  and  at 
that  time  (1768)  it  was  surrounded  by  a  dense  population. 
These  circumstances,  connected  with  incessant  persecution,  the 
turmoil  and  contention  into  which  it  was  thrown  and  constantly 
kept  by  some  of  its  envious  neighbors,  were  the  principal  causes 
of  its  decline. 

"At  an  early  period  they  established  a  printing  office,  one  of 
the  first  German  presses  in  the  state,  which  enabled  them  to  dis- 
tribute tracts  and  hymns,  and  afterwards  to  print  several  large 
works,  in  which  the  views  of  the  founder  are  fully  explained. 
Many  of  these  books  have  been  lost  and  destroyed.  In  the 
Revolutionary  War,  just  before  the  battle  of  Germantown,  three 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  I43 

wagon-loads  of  books,  in  sheets,  were  seized,  and  taken  away  for 
cartridges.  They  came  to  the  paper-mill  to  get  paper,  and  not 
finding  any  there,  they  pressed  the  books  in  sheets. 

"Music  was  much  cultivated.  Beisel  was  a  good  composer  and 
musician.  In  composing  sacred  music  he  took  his  style  from  the 
music  of  nature,  and  the  whole,  comprising  several  large  volumes, 
is  founded  on  the  tones  of  the  Aeolian  harp  ;  the  singing  is  the 
Aeolian  harp  harmonized.  It  is  very  peculiar  in  its  style  and 
concords,  and  in  its  execution.  The  tones  issuing  from  the  choir 
imitate  very  soft  instrumental  music,  conveying  a  softness  and 
devotion  almost  superhuman  to  the  auditor.  Their  music  is  set 
in  four,  six,  and  eight  parts.  All  the  parts,  save  the  bass,  are  led 
and  sung  exclusively  by  females,  the  men  being  confined  to  bass, 
which  is  set  in  two  parts,  the  high  and  low  bass,  the  latter  resem- 
bling the  deep  tones  of  the  organ,  and  the  first,  in  combination 
with  one  of  the  female  parts,  is  an  excellent  imitation  of  the 
concert  horn.  The  whole  is  sung  in  falsetto  voice,  the  singers 
scarcely  opening  their  mouths  or  moving  their  lips,  which  throws 
their  voice  up  to  the  ceiling,  which  is  not  high,  and  the  tones, 
which  seem  to  be  more  than  human,  at  least  so  far  from  common 
church  singing,  appear  to  be  entering  from  above,  and  hovering 
over  the  heads  of  the  assembly.  Their  singing  so  charmed  the 
commissioners  who  were  sent  to  visit  the  society  by  the  English 
Government,  after  the  French  War,  that  they  requested  a  copy  to 
be  sent  to  the  royal  family  in  England,  which  was  cheerfully 
complied  with,  and  which,  I  understand,  is  still  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum.  About  twelve  months  afterwards  a  box  was 
received  about  three  or  four  feet  long  and  two  or  two  and  a  half 
wide,  containing  a  present  in  return.  What  the  present  was  is 
not  now  known,  none  having  seen  it  but  Friedsam  and  Jabez,  who 
was  then  prior,  and  into  whose  care  it  was  consigned.  It  was 
buried  secretly  by  him,  with  the  advice  of  Beisel.  It  is  supposed, 
from  a  hint  given  by  Jabez,  that  it  was  images  of  the  king  and 
queen,  in  full  costume,  or  images  of  the  Saviour  on  the  cross, 
and  the  Virgin  Mary,  supposing,  as  many  in  this  country  have 
erroneously  thought,  that  the  people  of  Ephratah  possess  many 


144  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

of  the  Catholic  principles  and  feelings.  The  king,  at  whose 
instance  they  were  sent,  was  a  German,  and  we  may  presume  that 
he  considered  they  retained  the  same  views  as  the  monastic  insti- 
tutions of  Europe.  They  have  nearly  a  thousand  pieces  of  music, 
a  piece  being  composed  for  every  hymn.  This  music  is  lost 
entirely  now  at  Ephratah,  not  the  music  books,  but  the  style  of 
singing.  It  is,  however,  still  preserved  and  finely  executed, 
though  only  in  a  faint  degree,  at  Snowhill,  near  the  Antietam 
Creek,  in  Franklin  County,  where  there  is  a  branch  of  the  society, 
and  which  is  now  the  principal  settlement  of  the  German  Seventh- 
day  Baptists. 


SNOW    HILL    NUNNERY 

"They  greatly  outnumber  the  people  at  Ephratah,  and  are  in 
a  very  flourishing  condition.  There  they  keep  up  the  institution 
as  originally  established  at  Ephratah,  and  are  growing  rapidly. 
Their  singing,  which  is  weak  in  comparison  with  the  old  Ephratah 
choir,  and  may  be  likened  to  the  performance  of  an  overture  by 
a  musical  box  with  its  execution  by  a  full  orchestra  in  an  opera 
house,  is  so  peculiar  and  affecting  that  when  once  heard  it  can 
never  be  forgotten.  I  heard  it  once  at  Ephratah,  in  my  very 
young  days,  when  several  of  the  old  choir  were  still  living,  and  the 
Antietam  choir  met  with  them.  And  some  years  since  I  sojourned 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Snowhill,  during  the  summer  season, 
where  I  had  a  fine  opportunity  of  hearing  it  frequently,  and  judg- 
ing of  its  excellence.  On  each  returning  Friday  evening,  the 
commencement  of  the  Sabbath,  I  regularly  mounted  my  horse 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  145 

and  rode  to  that  place,  a  distance  of  three  miles,  and  lingered 
about  the  grove  in  front  of  the  building,  during  the  evening 
exercises,  charmed  to  enchantment.  It  was  in  my  gay  days,  when 
the  fashion  and  ambition  of  the  world  possessed  me,  but  there 
was  such  a  sublimity  and  devotion  in  their  music  that  I  repaired 
with  the  greatest  punctuality  to  this  place,  to  drink  in  those 
mellifluous  tones,  which  transported  my  spirit  for  the  time  to 
regions  of  unalloyed  bliss ;  tones  which  I  never  before  nor  since 
heard  on  earth,  though  I  have  frequented  the  English,  the  French, 
and  Italian  opera.  That  is  music  for  the  ear;  the  music  of 
Beisel  is  music  for  the  soul,  music  that  affords  more  than  natural 
gratification.  It  was  always  a  delightful  boon  to  me,  enhanced 
by  the  situation  of  the  cloister,  which  is  in  a  lovely  vale  just 
beyond  the  South  Mountain.  During  the  week  I  longed  for  the 
return  of  that  evening,  and  on  the  succeeding  morning  was  again 
irresistibly  led  to  take  the  same  ride,  if  I  did  not  let  it  be  known 
on  the  evening  that  I  was  on  the  ground,  for  whenever  it  was 
discovered,  I  was  invited  and  kept  the  night  in  the  cloister,  to 
attend  morning  service,  at  which  time  I  always  entered  the  room, 
and  there  was  preaching.  But  as  often  as  I  ventured,  I  became 
ashamed  of  myself,  for  scarcely  had  these  strains  of  celestial 
harmony  touched  my  ear,  than  I  was  bathed  in  tears.  Unable  to 
suppress  them,  they  continued  to  cover  my  face  during  the  serv- 
ice, nor  in  spite  of  my  mortification  could  I  keep  them  away. 
They  were  not  tears  of  penitence,  for  my  heart  was  not  subdued 
to  the  Lord,  but  tears  of  ecstatic  rapture,  giving  a  foretaste  of 
the  joys  of  heaven.  I  have  spoken  of  Ephratah  as  it  was,  not 
as  it  is.  True,  old  Ephratah  still  stands  its  weather-beaten  walls, 
some  of  which  are  upwards  of  an  hundred  years  old,  and  crum- 
bling to  pieces,  rendering  it  more  interesting  from  its  antiquity. 
Many  traces  of  the  olden  time  remain,  but  its  life  has  departed. 
There  are,  however,  many  delightful  associations  connected  with 
its  moldering  walls,  which,  like  some  of  the  dilapidated  castles, 
are  apparently  falling  to  the  ground,  deserted,  and  given  to  the 
rooks  and  owls,  yet  it  contains  many  habitable  and  comfortable 
apartments. 


I46  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

"As  early  as  1758  there  was  a  branch  of  this  society  established 
at  Bermudian  Creek,  in  York  County,  about  fifteen  miles  from 
the  town  of  York,  some  of  the  members  of  which  still  remain, 
though  they  have  been  without  preaching  for  many  years. 
Another  was  established  in  1763,  in  Bedford  County,  which  still 
flourishes,  and  many  members  of  the  present  society  are  scattered 
through  the  counties  of  the  interior  of  the  state,  so  that  the  truth 
which  was  left  has  not  become  extinct,  but  is  still  extending, 
which  is  particularly  the  case  at  Snowhill ;  and  hope  is  still  enter- 
tained that  the  little  one  may  become  a  thousand,  and  the  small 
one  a  ereat  nation. 


SNOW     HILL     NUNNERY     CHURCH 

"A  few  years  ago  the  German  Seventh-day  Baptists  were 
placed  in  a  situation  in  which,  with  all  their  dislike  to  law,  they 
felt  that  the  great  principles  of  religious  freedom  demanded  an 
appeal  to  Caesar.  Prior  to  that  period  Sunday  was  regarded  in 
the  eye  of  the  law  as  a  holy  day,  and  an  act  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Legislature,  passed  in  1794,  fined  those  who  pursued  their  secular 
callings  on  it.  Harmless  and  inoffensive  as  the  German  Sabba- 
tarians had  ever  been,  there  were  found  those  who  brought  them 
before  the  magistrate  with  a  view  to  their  being  fined.  For  some 
time  this  was  submitted  to,  but  at  length  it  was  brought  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state.     Thaddeus  Stevens,  the  counsel 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  I47 

employed  by  these  Baptists,  took  grounds :  ( I )  That  Christianity 
is  not,  as  is  generally  assumed,  the  common  law  of  the  land ;  and 
(2)  that  the  law  of  1794,  under  which  they  were  prosecuted,  is 
unconstitutional,  inasmuch  as  it  sets  up  and  enforces  Sunday  as 
a  sacred — a  holy  day — a  religious  institution.  The  difficulty  was 
felt,  and  the  final  decision  of  the  court  was,  that  the  Legislature 
was  incompetent  to  give  religious  preference  to  any  sect,  but  was 
competent  to  ordain  a  civil  rest  day,  which  might  be  established  on 
any  day  of  the  week,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Legislature,  thus 
stripping,  so  far  as  human  law  is  concerned,  the  day  of  rest  of  all 
sacredness.  A  subsequent  law  of  the  Legislature  took  away 
the  temptation  to  inform  against  the  violators  of  the  law,  by 
throwing  the  whole  of  the  fine  into  the  county  treasury,  instead 
of  dividing  it,  as  heretofore,  with  the  informer.  Since  that 
period  the  Seventh-day  Christians  of  the  state  have  pursued  their 
own  path  without  annoyance." 

COCALICO  CHURCH. 

The  Cocalico  River  flows  through  Lancaster  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  is  a  small  tributary  of  the  Susquehanna.  A  num- 
ber of  members  lived  along  this  little  river,  who  came  from 
different  places,  and  although  for  some  time  they  had  no  regular 
organization,  they  did  not  neglect  the  work  of  the  Lord.  The 
Lord  blessed  their  efforts,  and  in  a  short  time  it  was  considered 
advisable  that  they  should  be  organized.  It  was  effected  in  1734, 
and  was  presided  over  by  Elder  Peter  Becker.  From  its  loca- 
tion it  was  called  Cocalico  church. 

For  several  years  this  congregation  was  under  the  care  of  the 
Conestoga  church,  and  finally  it  became  the  Lancaster  church. 
Brother  Michael  Frantz  was  one  of  the  first  ministers  of  this 
congregation.  From  records  still  existing,  it  is  evident  that  this 
was  considered  as  the  most  prosperous  and  successful  of  all  the 
churches  of  those  days.  In  1745  there  was  a  large  influx  of 
members  from  the  Amwell  church,  New  Jersey.  During  the 
fourteen  years'  service  of  Brother  Frantz,  nearly  two  hundred 
members  were  added  to  this  congregation. 


I48  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Michael  Pfautz,  a  German,  came  to  this  country  in  1727.  He 
settled  not  far  from  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  where,  twelve 
years  afterward,  in  1739,  he  was  converted  and  was  baptized  by 
Brother  Frantz.  Five  years  later  he  was  chosen  to  the  ministry 
in  the  Cocalico  church.  Under  his  ministration  the  church  was 
alive  and  zealous,  and,  according  to  the  records,  during-  the  first 
year  fifty-seven  became  members  by  baptism,  and  within  the  next 
seven  years  seventy-nine  more  were  added  to  the  church.  He 
died  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  church  mourned  his 
loss.      (See  Biography  of  Elder  Michael  Pfautz.) 

In  1748  Brother  Jacob  Sontag  was  chosen  to  the  ministry,  and 
in  May,  1763,  he  was  ordained  to  the  eldership,  but  resigned  his 
office  the  next  day. 

After  the  foregoing,  on  December  1,  1764,  this  congregation 
chose  Christian  Longanecker,  born  in  this  country  but  of  Ger- 
man parentage,  to  serve  them  in  the  ministry.  The  church  pros- 
pered under  his  service,  and  on  the  4th  of  May,  1769,  he  was 
promoted  to  the  office  of  bishop.  At  this  time  there  were  in  this 
church  about  fifty-three  families  and  eighty-six  members. 

WHITE   OAK    LAND. 

In  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  Warwick  Township,  there 
was  a  tract  of  land  that  was  called  White  Oak.  A  number  of 
members  lived  in  this  township  and  surroundings,  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  this  tract  of  land.  In  1729  Jacob  Krebil,  John 
Longanecker,  George  Keyser,  and  some  others,  located  in  this 
vicinity.  They  came  from  Germany,  but  some  others  came  from 
other  places.  There  was  a  deep  interest  felt  and  manifested  in 
this  place,  and  in  1736,  Elder  Michael  Frantz  presiding,  they 
were  organized  into  a  church,  and  because  of  their  nearness  to 
the  above-named  White  Oak  Land,  they  adopted  for  the  name  of 
the  congregation,  White  Oak  Land.  Elder  Frantz  resided  in  the 
Conestoga  church,  but  he  became  the  pastor  of  this  newly- 
organized  congregation,  and  next  to  him  in  office  were  brethren 
Michael  Pfautz  and  Jacob  Sontag.  Brother  Christian  Longan- 
ecker became  their  first  resident  minister,  and  he  served  them 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  I49 

acceptably  and  successfully.  About  the  time  to  which  allusion 
is  made,  there  were  sixty-six  members,  and  their  names  are  yet 
on  record,  which  is  a  source  of  gratification  to  their  far-off 
progeny.  '  Their  names  are  the  following :  Catherine  Bitner, 
Salome  Borghart,  Andrew  Eby  and  wife,  Barbara  Eby  and  four 
daughters,   Henry   Eter  and   wife,   Abraham   Flohry   and   wife, 

John  Frantz  and  wife,  Fronica  ,  Catharine  Gish,  Conrad 

Gingle,  Henry  Giebel  and  wife,  Widow  Huber,  Ann  Huber, 
Elizabeth  Huft,  Jacob  Hershy  and  wife.  John  Hackan  and  wife, 
Conrad  Hausser  and  wTife,  Jacob  Kuensing  and  wife,  Christian 
Krabiel  and  wife,  George  Kleine  and  wife,  Mrs.  Kratzer,  Chris- 
tian Langanacre  and  wife,  E.  Langanacre  and  wife,  Ulrich 
Langanacre,  John  Lautesmilch  and  wife,  George  Mohler  and 
wife,  John  Pfautz  and  wife,  Elizabeth  Rover,  Catherine  Royer, 
Martin  Schuh  and  wife,  Henry  Stohler  and  wife,  George  Stohler 
and  wife,  John  Zug  and  wife,  Jacob  Zug  and  wife. 

BIG    SWATARA,    OR    EAST    CONEWAGO. 

This  congregation  was  named  after  the  Swatara  River,  along 
which  most  of  its  members  resided.  It  was  also  sometimes  called 
East  Conewago,  after  another  small  stream  running  through  the 
neighborhood.  Their  meetings  were  mostly  held  in  the  houses 
of  members  in  Mt.  Joy  Township,  Lancaster  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, about  twenty  miles  from  Lancaster  City. 

In  1752  Mr.  George  Miller  was  awakened  by  the  Spirit  of 
God.  He  and  his  wife  received  the  doctrine  of  the  brethren,  and 
were  baptized  by  Elder  Michael  Pfautz,  from  Conestoga.  Being 
filled  with  the  Spirit,  he  at  once  began  to  exhort  and  preach 
among  his  neighbors.  He  soon  succeeded  in  convincing  them, 
and  many  of  them  became  converted  and  members  of  the  body. 
Others  moved  in  from  Conestoga  and  White  Oak  Land,  and  in 
1756  they  were  regularly  organized,  and  Brother  Miller  became 
their  minister ;  but  the  church  was  under  the  oversight  of  Elder 
Pfautz.  After  the  death  of  Elder  Pfautz,  Brother  Miller  was 
placed  in  charge.     This  was  in  1769,  but  he  was  not  regularly 


I50  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

ordained  as  an  elder  until  August  15,  1770,  when  the  impressive 
service  was  performed  by  Elders  Saur  and  Urner. 

Brother  Adam  Hammacher  also  became  a  minister  of  this 
church,  which  at  that  time  numbered  thirty-nine  members,  as  in 
the  following  list:  Elder  George  Miller  and  his  wife  and 
daughter,  Adam  Hammacher  (minister)  and  wife  and  daughter, 
John  Buck  and  wife,  Christopher  Brauser  and  wife,  Peter  Bersh 
and  wife,  George  Balshbach  and  wife,  Freny  Cass,  Jacob  Eter 
and  wife,  John  Eter  and  wife,  Peter  Ertzstone  and  wife,  Barbara 
Henry,  Frederick  Hess  and  wife,  George  Henry  and  wife,  Wen- 
del  Merich  and  wife,  Jacob  Metzer  and  wife,  Philip  Roemer  and 
wife,  Philip  Reicker  and  wife,  Henry  Stohner  and  wife,  Henry 
Thomas  and  wife,  Margaret  Thomas. 

BIG     CONEWAGO. 

Like  many  other  churches,  the  Conewago  church  was  named 
after  the  river  along  which  most  of  its  members  resided.  It  was 
denominated  Big  Conewago,  to  distinguish  it  from  a  neighboring 
congregation  known  as  the  Little  Conewago.  It  was  mainly 
located  in  Reading  Township,  York  County,  Pennsylvania.  It 
was  organized  in  1741.  At  that  time  Joseph  Latshaw,  Peter 
Neiper,  John  Neagley,  Jacob  Swigart,  Adam  Saur,  and  others, 
united  in  enjoying  a  communion  service.  Their  first  minister 
was  George  Adam  Martin,  and  he  remained  but  a  short  time. 
After  him  Elder  Daniel  Leatherman  was  placed  in  charge.  He 
soon  removed  to  Maryland,  and  Brother  Nicholas  Martin  was 
made  an  elder.  He  remained  but  a  short  time.  He  moved  to 
Maryland,  and  Brother  George  Brown  served  them  up  to  1770, 
the  period  at  which  this  history  closes.  The  following  are 
their  names  : — 

George  Brown  (minister)  and  wife,  Samuel  Arnold,  Barnet 
Achenbach  and  wife,  Rudolph  Brown,  Sarah  Brissel,  David 
Brissel  and  wife,  Henry  Brissel  and  wife,  Marilas  Baker, 
Nicholas  Bakener,  Jr.,  Nicholas  Bakener,  Laurence  Bakener  and 
wife,  Matthias  Bouser  and  wife  and  daughter,  Velten  Brissel  and 
wife,  Michael  Brissel  and  wife,  John  Burkholter  and  wife,  Daniel 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  15 1 

Baker  and  wife,  Michael  Bosserman  and  wife,  Manass.  Bruch 
and  wife,  Adam  Dick  and  wife,  Peter  DierdoriT  and  wife,  Henry 
Dierdorfl  and  wife,  John  Dierdorfr  and  wife,  Anthony  Dierdorff 
and  wife,  David  Erhard  and  wife,  Peter  Fox  and  wife,  Christian 
Frey,  John  Heimer  and  wife,  Mary  Latzcho,  Nicholas  Moyer  and 
wife,  John  Nageley  and  wife,  Ustace  Reinsel  and  wife,  x\braham 
Stauffer  and  wife,  Catharine  Studebaker,  Philip  Snell  and  wife, 
Adam  Saur  and  wife  and  two  daughters,  Andrew  Trimmer  and 
wife,  George  Waggoner  and  wife. 

TULPEHOCKEN. 

The  Tulpehocken  branch  is  composed  of  parts  of  Lebanon  and 
Berks  Counties,  Pennsylvania.  There  were  several  families  of 
brethren  living  here  about  1770,  who  held  to  the  Conestoga  and 
White  Oak  churches,  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania.  These 
brethren  had  meetings  in  their  houses,  held  by  the  ministers  of 
the  above-named  churches.  In  181 3  Brother  Abraham  Zug 
(son  of  Elder  John  Zug,  of  White  Oak)  moved  into  this  vicinity. 
He  was  formerly  of  Conestoga,  about  a  mile  south  of  Tulpe- 
hocken Creek.  At  that  time  there  were  four  families  in  this 
place,  making  in  all  nine  members.  Two  families  held  with  the 
Conestoga  and  two  with  the  White  Oak.  In  181 5  Brother 
Abraham  Zug  was  chosen  as  a  minister  of  the  Word  by  the 
Conestoga  church.  He  served  about  twenty-seven  years  as  min- 
ister and  elder,  and  died  in  1841,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age. 
There  were  then  about  fifty  members  in  this  district,  but  part  still 
held  to  Conestoga  and  part  to  White  Oak. 

As  there  was  no  minister  or  deacon  here  after  the  death 
of  Elder  Abraham  Zug,  the  elders  of  the  adjoining  churches  came 
on  a  visit,  and  counseled  the  brethren  of  this  district  to  organize 
and  choose  a  minister  and  two  deacons.  The  majority  took  the 
advice  of  the  elders,  and  on  the  5th  day  of  October,  1841,  they 
held  an  election.  The  choice  fell  on  John  Zug  (son  of  Elder 
Abraham  Zug)  as  minister,  and  Jacob  Oberholzer  and  Daniel 
Royer  as  deacons.  The  church  then  received  the  name  of  Tulpe- 
hocken.    Afterward  brethren  were  called  to  the  ministry  as  the 


152  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

church  had  need  of  them.  Since  1841  four  of  these  went  the 
way  whence,  it  is  said,  none  ever  return,  and  will  receive  their 
reward.  In  1873  there  were  four  ministers,  five  deacons,  and 
about  two  hundred  members  in  this  congregation. 

NORTHKILL. 

The  Northkill  church  is  located  mainly  in  Berks  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  Tulpehocken  and  Bern  Townships,  and  about  fifteen 
miles  from  Reading.  It  was  in  1748  that  this  church  was  organ- 
ized. It  was  called  after  a  small  river  of  that  name.  There 
were  not  many  resident  members  at  the  time  of  the  organization, 
but  among  them  were  Brother  John  Stump,  wife  and  sister, 
Frederick  Moyer  and  wife,  and  a  few  others.  Elder  Michael 
Pfautz  conducted  a  communion  for  them,  and  they  continued  to 
exhort  each  other,  and  to  build  one  another  up  in  the  most  holy 
faith. 

In  1750  Elder  George  Kleine,  from  New  Jersey,  moved  among 
them.  He  became  their  first  officiating  minister,  and  was  placed 
in  charge.  Soon  after  this  his  labors  w.ere  greatly  blessed  of 
the  Lord.  They  continued  to  increase  in  number  until  the  more 
western  valleys  began  to  settle.  Then  many  of  the  members 
moved  to  other  places,  and  the  once  thriving  church  was  gradually 
reduced.  In  1770  there  were  only  eleven  members  in  fellowship 
with  the  church.  Following  are  the  eleven  names  :  Elder  George 
Kleine  and  wife,  Valentine  Lang,  Elizabeth  Reiler,  Elizabeth 
Stump,  Elizabeth  Brandel,  Mary  Stoner,  Sarah  Solenberger, 
Susannah  Mackly,  John  Stoner  and  wife. 

It  is  sad,  but  true,  that  this  little  congregation  became  extinct, 
or  more  likely  the  name  was  changed  to  Little  Swatara,  as  stated 
by  David  B.  Kline  in  "Brethren's  Almanac,"  1872,  page  20. 

BERMUDIAN. 

The  Bermudian  church,  in  York  County,  Pennsylvania,  was 
organized  in  1758.  At  first  it  was  under  charge  of  Elder  Con- 
rad Beisel.     Among  the  members  at  the  time  of  organization 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  1 53 

were  Peter  Beisel,  Philip  Gebel,  and  Henry  Lohman.  After 
some  time  Elder  Beisel  no  more  visited  this  church,  and  brethren 
George  Adam  Martin  and  Peter  Miller  did  the  preaching. 
Brother  Martin  was  a  member  of  this  body,  but  Brother  Miller 
resided  at  Ephratah.  In  1762  the  former  adhered  to  Beisel, 
left  the  church,  and  migrated  westward.  Brother  Henry  Loh- 
man was  elected  to  the  ministry,  and,  the  Beisel  annoyance  not- 
withstanding, the  congregation  prospered,  and  in  1770  there  were 
fifty-three  members  from  forty  families.  Following  are  their 
names : — 

Henry  Lohman  (minister)  and  wife,  John  Bence  and  wife, 
one  daughter  and  four  sons,  Peter  Bender  and  wife,  Peter  Beisel 
and  wife,  son,  and  daughter,  Philip  Beisel  and  wife,  John  Cook 

and  wife  and  son,  Mrs.  Dorothy,  Daniel  Fahnestock  and 

wife, Frick,  Elizabeth  Foltz,  Philip  Gebel,  Benjamin  Gebel, 

John  Lehn  and  wife,  John  Miller  and  wife  and  two  sons,  John 
Messerbach  and  wife,  George  Neiss  and  wife,  Frederick  Reuter, 
wife,  and  daughter,  George  Reiss,  Belzar  Smith  and  wife,  Sebas- 
tian Sholles  and  wife, Stauffer,  Paul  Traub  and  wife,  Adam 

Weyley  and  wife,  Melchior  Webber  and  wife. 

OLEY. 

This  congregation  was  named  after  Oley  Township,  in  Berks 
County,  Pennsylvania,  where  it  was  located.  The  principal  point 
was  about  fifty-five  miles  northwest  of  Philadelphia.  In  1732 
there  were  several  members  residing  in  that  vicinity,  among 
whom  were  Brethren  Ritters  and  Shelbut.  They  arranged  to 
have  a  communion  service,  at  which  Elder  Peter  Becker  pre- 
sided. They  had  an  enjoyable  meeting,  and  at  that  time  they 
were  organized,  and  the  church  was  named  Oley.  They  had 
no  resident  minister,  but  with  the  aid  of  ministers  from  other 
places,  and  through  their  own  zealous,  persevering  efforts,  and 
under  God's  blessing,  they  increased  rapidly.  This  was  very 
pleasant  and  encouraging,  and  they  soon  had  a  strong  congrega- 
tion.    About  ten  years  after  their  organization,  in  1742,  a  number 


154  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

of  members  moved  to  other  places,  most  of  them  to  the  attractive 
valley  of  the  Conacocheaque.  Their  correspondence  in  relation 
to  their  country  was  so  favorable  that,  in  1743,  nearly  the  whole 
church  followed  them,  leaving  only  a  few.  This  was  discourag- 
ing, but  they  did  not  cease  working.  They  were  faithful,  hope- 
ful, and  persevering,  and  the  Lord  blessed  their  efforts.  Martin 
Urner  and  John  Jodder  were  the  first  resident  ministers  in  this 
church,  but  they  were  often  visited  and  helped  by  ministers  in 
adjoining  congregations. 

The  following  members  belonged  to  this  congregation  :  Martin 
Gaby  and  wife,  David  Kinsey  and  wife,  Christian  Kinsey  and 
wife,  Peter  Kleine,  Daniel  Kleine  and  wife,  Catharine  Plank, 
Conrad  Price  and  wife,  Elizabeth  Ellis,  David  Price  and  wife ; 
eighteen  members  in  all. 

COVENTRY,   OR     SCHUYLKILL. 

This  church  is  located  in  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania. 
Before  its  organization  eight  members  belonging  to  the  German- 
town  congregation  were  residing  here.  Elder  Peter  Becker,  of 
Germantown,  had  them  in  charge,  and  ministered  to  them.  On 
September  7,  1724,  he  assisted  them  in  their  organization,  and 
they  adopted  Coventry  for  a  name,  which  was  the  name  of  the 
township.  This  was  about  forty  miles  from  Philadelphia,  the 
city  of  brotherly  love,  and  was  the  second  Brethren  Church  in 
America.  Elder  Becker  still  had  them  in  charge,  but  by  their 
choice  Martin  Urner  was  commissioned  to  be  their  exhorter  and 
leader.  It  is  located  on  the  Schuylkill  River,  and  on  this  account 
it  was  also  sometimes  called  Schuylkill. 

In  the  evening  of  the  day  of  their  organization  they  held  a 
love-feast,  with  eight  native  communicants.  Their  names  were : 
Daniel  Eiker  and  wife,  Peter  Heffly,  Henry  Landis  and  wife, 
Owen  Longanecker,  Andrew  Sell,  and  Martin  Urner.  They 
prospered  and  increased  rapidly,  and  would  soon  have  become  a 
a  large  congregation,  had  they  all  remained,  but  the  beauty  and 
utility  of  the  surrounding  country  attracted  many  settlers,  and 
the  land  was  soon  all  taken  up  and  advanced  in  price.     This 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  155 

caused  many  to  migrate  to  other  settlements  with  their  families. 
Some  sought  homes  in  Virginia,  Carolina,  and  other  places. 
Notwithstanding  these  deflections,  in  1770  they  numbered  twenty- 
two  families,  containing  forty  members. 

For  many  years,  up  to  1772,  they  held  their  meetings  for  wor- 
ship in  a  kind  of  rotation,  at  about  five  private  houses.  Their 
first  meeting-house  was  built  in  1772,  the  second  in  181 7,  and  the 
third  in  1890.  This  is  a  commodious  house,  and  may  stand  for 
many  years. 

The  first  elder  of  this  church,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  Peter 
Becker,  of  Germantown,  but  the  first  elder  ordained  here  was 
Martin  Urner.  He  was  ordained  by  Elder  Alexander  Mack,  in 
1729.  The  next  ordained  minister  was  Martin  Urner,  Jr.,  who 
was  ordained  in  1756.  Since  then  there  have  been  near  a  score 
of  ministers  in  this  place,  and  to-day  the  church  seems  to  be  in 
a  prosperous  condition. 

CONESTOGA. 

There  is  a  place  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  called 
Conestoga.  In  this  vicinity  there  resided  several  members  of 
the  Tunker  Church,  namely,  Conrad  Beisel,  Veronica  Frederick, 
Henry  Hohn  and  wife,  John  Moyer  and  wife,  and  Joseph 
Shaffer.  On  the  12th  of  November,  1724,  they  were  organized 
into  a  church,  with  the  name  of  Conestoga,  by  Elder  Peter 
Becker.  At  this  time  Conrad  Beisel  was  chosen  to  be  their 
minister.  Soon  after  the  organization,  Sigmond  Landert  and 
wife  were  received  by  baptism.  At  first  they  held  their  meetings 
on  Mill  Creek,  but  soon  in  Earl  Township,  at  the  house  of  Peter 
Nageley.  At  this  place  they  held  their  meetings  for  seven  years, 
Beisel  being  their  principal  minister.  From  about  1728  till  1734 
there  was  considerable  annoyance  and  confusion  in  this  Conestoga 
congregation.  Their  minister,  Beisel,  imbibed  some  strange 
views,  and  they  grew  so  strong  that  he  withdrew  fellowship  from 
the  brethren,  and  a  number  of  members  went  with  him,  but 
not  all. 

After  the  above  withdrawal  the  remaining  members  were  min- 
istered unto  by  Elder    Peter  Becker,  until    September  29,  1734. 


156  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

On  this  day  there  was  a  reorganization  of  the  congregation,  with 
Michael  Frantz  (minister)  as  their  leader.  This  was  effected 
by  a  somewhat  novel  method  of  working.  They  were  assembled 
in  a  council  meeting  in  a  barn,  and  Brother  Frantz  laid  a  rail  on 
the  floor.  One  side  of  the  rail  he  called  the  right  side  and  the 
other  the  left.  He  then  solicited  those  who  would  remain  with 
the  brethren  and  constitute  the  reorganized  congregation  to  step 
to  the  right  side,  he  leading,  and  asked  all  who  wished  to  follow 
Beisel  to  step  to  the  left  side.  Thus  there  was  a  friendly  division, 
and  the  following  members  constituted  the  reorganized  body: 
Michael  Frantz  (minister),  John  Frantz,  Samuel  Good,  John 
Landis,  Michael  Pfautz,  Emick  Reyer,  George  Reyer,  Philip 
Rowland,  Henry  Sneider,  Rant  Woolf,  and  others  whose  names 
are  not  given. 

Immediately  after  there  was  an  encouraging  revival,  and  the 
following  were  added  to  the  church:  Rudolph  Bollinger,  Gott- 
fried Geiger,  Samuel  Gut,  Hans  Hildebrand  and  wife,  Ludwig 
Kalckglasser  and  wife,  Hans  George  Koch  and  wife,  Hans  Kep- 
pinger  and  wife,  Sister  Kropf,  Joseph  Latschan  and  wife,  Brother 
Luys  and  wife,  and  Brother  Vogan.  Several  of  these  had  been 
members  in  other  places. 

Brother  Michael  Frantz  was  ordained  in  1735.  He  died  in 
1748.  He  was  succeeded  by  Elder  Michael  Pfautz,  who  served 
till  1763,  and  then  Brother  Jacob  Sontag  was  ordained. 

LITTLE  SWATARA. 

The  Little  Swatara  church  is  located  partly  in  Berks  County - 
Pennsylvania,  and  partly  in  Lancaster  County,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  twenty-five  miles  from  Reading. 

In  1745  a  man  named  George  Beasher  settled  in  this  neighbor- 
hood, and  soon  after  he  was  followed  by  Peter  Heckman,  Michael 
Frantz,  and  others.  These  were  converted  under  the  labors  of 
the  brethren,  and  they  were  baptized  by  Elder  George  Kline, 
from  the  Northkill  congregation.  They  continued  to  increase, 
and  were  organized  into  a  church.  At  this  time  they  chose 
Brother  Peter  Heckman   for  their  minister,   who  served  faith- 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  157 

fully.  Their  first  communion  was  celebrated  in  1757,  Elder 
Kline  officiating.  He  continued  to  assist  them  in  various  serv- 
ices until  about  1770,  when  Brother  Peter  Heckman  was  ordained 
to  be  their  elder.  Ten  years  later,  on  August  12,  1780,  Brother 
Michael  Frantz  was  ordained  an  elder  by  Elders  Urner  and 
Saur,  and  Brethren  George  Beasher  and  Jacob  Mover  were 
ordained  deacons.  In  1770  there  were  forty-five  members, 
whose  names  follow  : — 

Jacob  Beasher  and  wife,  Jacob  Baker  and  wife,  Widow  Bene- 
dict, Elizabeth  Benedict,  Jacob  Breneisen  and  wife,  George 
Beasher,  Mrs.  Cryder,  Jacob  Deal,  John  Frantz  and  wife, 
Nicholas  Gerst  and  wife,  John  Grove,  Peter  Heckman  (minister) 
and  wife,  John  Heckman  and  wife,  Adam  Henrick,  Eliza  Kentzel, 
David  Kleine  and  wife,  Sophy  Kish,  Simon  Merrick  and  wife, 
David  Marge  and  wife,  Jacob  Mover  and  wife,  Hans  Stohner 
and  wife,  Leonard  Sebalt  and  wife,  Rose  Schables,  Jacob  Smith 
and  wife,  Philip  Zeigler  and  wife. 

Elder  John  Hertzler  was  in  charge  of  this  congregation  at  the 
close  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

CODORUS. 

This  church  is  located  in  Codorus  Township,  York  County, 
Pennsylvania,  about  ten  miles  from  York  City.  Its  organiza- 
tion was  accomplished  in  1758.  Its  charter  members  were 
Brethren  John  Brillhart,  Peter  Brillhart,  Elder  Jacob  Donner, 
and  Rudy  Yount.  Their  first  minister  was  Henry  Neff.  He 
labored  under  the  care  of  Elder  Jacob  Donner,  and  his  labors 
were  very  successful.  Elder  Donner  presided  over  them  until 
he  moved  to  Monocacy,  Maryland.  He  was  a  noted  poet,  and 
served  the  church  faithfully  for  a  long  time.  This  was  in  1770. 
At  this  time  Brother  Neff  was  ordained  to  the  eldership,  and 
their  membership  was  about  thirty-five,  as  follows : — 

Elder  Henry  Neff  and  wife,  Michael  Berkey  and  wife,  Peter 
Brillhart  and  wife,  Catharine  Beightley,  Wendel  Baker  and  wife, 
George  Beary  and  wife,  Christian  Eby  and  wife,  George  Ettor 
and  son,  John  Harold  and  wife,  Elizabeth  Leip,  Ann  Neiswanger, 


158  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Jacob  Neiswanger  and  wife,  Jacob  Spitler  and  wife  and  two 
daughters,  William  Spitler  and  wife,  Matthias  Spitler  and  wife, 
Jacob  Tilman  and  wife  and  daughter,  Susanna  Weltner,  Rudy 
Yount  and  wife. 

After  Elder  Donner  had  moved  to  Maryland,  he  lived  at 
Linginohr  (now  Linganore),  Frederick  County,  but  the  Codorus 
church  was  not  forgotten  or  neglected  by  him,  as  it  was  frequently 
visited  by  him,  and  he  labored  diligently  for  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  its  members  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 

GREAT     SWAMP     CONGREGATION. 

This  society  was  called  by  the  above  name  from  the  large,  level 
tract,  called  the  great  swamp.  Their  meetings  were  usually 
held  at  the  house  of  their  minister,  Brother  John  Frick,  in  Upper 
Milford  Township,  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania.  In  the  spring 
of  1733  there  was  an  awakening  of  a  few  persons  in  the  vicin- 
ity, who  occasionally  met  for  devotional  services.  They  had 
some  knowledge  of  the  brethren,  and  of  their  manner  of  observ- 
ing the  sacraments,  and  they  solicited  a  visit  from  some  minister 
to  instruct  them  more  fully  in  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord's 
house.  Accordingly,  Brother  Johann  Naas>  then  living  in  the 
Jerseys,  made  an  evangelizing  tour  among  them,  during  which 
he  baptized  six  persons,  namely,  Salome  Miller  and  her  brother, 
Joseph  Miller,  John  Bracht  and  his  wife,  Peter  Longanecker,  and 
Peter  Rhoads.  These  established  meetings  between  themselves, 
to  edify  one  another,  as  the  apostle  enjoined.  This  little  leaven 
soon  began  to  work,  and  it  continued  to  extend  its  influence. 

In  a.  d.  1735  they  were  visited  by  Elders  Peter  Baker  and  Mar- 
tin Urner,  of  Germantown,  Pennsylvania.  They  found  five  more 
earnestly  awaiting  opportunity  to  manifest  their  faith  in  the  Lord, 
and  they  were  baptized.  These  were  Hanse  Zuck  and  his  wife, 
John  Frick  and  his  wife,  and  John  Slifer.  In  the  evening  of  the 
same  day  there  was  a  love-feast,  at  which  Peter  Becker  officiated. 
Here  an  organization  was  effected  of  eleven  members  in  1735, 
which  existed  for  a  number  of  years,  without  the  occurrence  of 
anv  unusual  event. 


FIRST     WORK     IN     AMERICA.  1 59 

In  1742  Count  Zinzendorff  canvassed  the  country  to  make 
proselytes  to  his  accommodating  faith.  He  made  inroads  among 
the  brethren,  and,  by  his  artfulness,  took  a  number  of  them  away. 
They,  however,  soon  found  themselves  disappointed,  and  some 
of  them  returned.  They  were  frequently  visited  by  ministering 
brethren  from  other  parts,  and  continued  to  increase  in  number. 
Many  of  the  Mennonites  united  with  them,  preferring  immersion. 
The  Moravians  also  intermingled  themselves  among  them,  and 
diminished  their  number.  Their  first  elder  was  Abraham  Duboy 
(see  Biographical  Department),  who  became  a  resident  minister 
in  1738.  He  died  March  21,  1748,  and  then  John  Frick  became 
the  pastor  of  the  congregation.  In  1770  he  became  an  ordained 
elder.  At  this  time  there  were  about  twenty  families  identified 
with  the  congregation,  and  there  were  twenty-eight  members,  as 
in  the  following  list : — 

Elder  John  Frick  and  wife,  Philip  Deal,  Frederick  Deal,  Law- 
rence Erbach  and  wife,  John  Demuth  and  wife,  Egite  Christian 
and  wife,  Ludwick  Christian  and  wife,  Mary  Christian,  Philip 
Goodman  and  wife,  Henry  Kun,  Widow  Crayling,  Andrew 
Meinzinger,  Widow  dinger,  John  Redrock  and  wife.  Widow 
Rinker,  Catherine  Rinker,  John  Sleifer  and  wife,  Jacob  Staut  and 
wife,  Freny  Trissel. 


OLD   GERMAN   BAPTIST   CHURCH 


CHAPTER   VIII 
GERMAN    "BAPTIST    CONGREGATIONS 

ANTIETAM,   PENNSYLVANIA. 

Abraham  Stouffer,  who  was  ordained  a  bishop  by  Elder  Peter 
Becker,  preached  a  while  at  Conewago,  York  County,  before 
moving  to  Antietam.  That  church  was  organized  in  1741.  He, 
with  Elder  George  Adam  Martin,  organized  the  Conococheaque 
congregation  in  Franklin  County.  Stouffer  did  not  remain  there 
more  than  twelve  years,  when  he  again  emigrated  eastward  to 
a  place  called  Bermudian.  Conococheaque  and  Antietam  are 
two  prominent  streams  flowing  southward  in  Franklin  County, 
and  emptying  into  the  Potomac  River  in  Washington  County, 
Maryland.  Prior  to  the  organization  the  people  were  supplied 
with  preaching  by  ministers  traveling  back  and  forth  between 
Germantown  and  Virginia. 

In  1780  a  number  of  families  from  various  places  settled  along 
the  Antietam.  Some  were  members  of  the  church,  others  joined 
after  they  arrived.  Among  those  were  the  Snowbergers,  Knep- 
pers,  Fridlys,  Stovers,  Prices,  and  Rovers. 

This  is  one  among  the  oldest  Tunker  churches  in  America. 
It  was  organized  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
probably  not  later  than  1752.  This  congregation  was  first 
named  Conococheaque,  the  Indian  name  of  a  small  stream  flow- 
ing through  the  county.  Of  the  names  of  the  ministers  from  the 
time  of  its  organization  to  the  year  1800  only  two  are  known, 
namely,  George  Adam  Martin  and  William  Stover.  During  the 
first  fifty  years  the  brethren  suffered  many  privations  on  account 
of  the  French  War,  in  1755,  the  Revolution  twenty  years  later, 
and  the  Indian  wars,  together  with  many  inconveniences  incident 
to  a  newly-settled  country. 

For  upwards  of  forty  years  no  meeting-house  was  built,  and 
they  worshiped  in  their  houses  and  barns,  and  sometimes  in  the 
open  air.     The  dread  of    the  Indian    tomahawk    and    scalping 

(160) 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  l6l 

knife  was  everywhere  felt.  In  the  morning,  before  going  to 
the  fields  to  work,  the  farmer  and  his  sons  often  bade  good-bye 
to  the  balance  of  the  family,  fearing  they  might  not  return,  or, 
if  permitted  to  do  so,  would  find  their  loved  ones  murdered  by 
the  Indians.  Some,  indeed,  fell  victims  to  the  ruthless  hand  of 
their  dreaded  foe  ;  but,  owing  to  the  strict  vigilance  of  the  settlers, 
the  Indians  were  finally  banished,  and  a  brighter  era  dawned  over 
the  community.  The  long,  dark  night  of  woe  gave  way  to  a 
beautiful  morn,  betokening  a  pleasant  day,  which  the  brethren, 
with  others,  have  enjoyed  through  the  present  century. 

In  1798  the  first  meeting-house  was  built,  where  they  continue 
to  meet  for  worship.  It  is  commonly  called  Antietam  or  Price's 
church,  built  on  the  bank  of  the  Antietam,  near  Waynesboro, 
Pennsylvania.  Since  then  other  meeting-houses  have  been  built, 
making  five  in  1898. 

Four  annual  meetings  have  been  held  in  this  congregation  dur- 
ing the  nineteenth  century,  namely,  in  1810,  at  Antietam  meeting- 
house;  in  1829,  with  Brother  George  Royer ;  in  1847,  with 
Brother  Isaac  DeardorfT;  and  in  1866,  with  Brother  Jacob  Price. 

The  names  of  the  ministers  elected  since  1800  are :  Daniel 
Stover,  John  Royer,  Jacob  Holsinger,  Sr.,  Henry  Strickler,  Jacob 
Fahrney,  Israel  Senger,  Daniel  Keefer,  D.  Fogelsanger,  Sr., 
William  Boyer,  Jacob  Price,  William  Etter,  David  Bock,  Joseph 
Gipe,  Daniel  Holsinger,  Isaac  Renner,  Joseph  F.  Rohrer,  Joseph 
Garber,  D.  F.  Good,  Abram  Golly,  John  D.  Benedick,  Jacob  F. 
Oiler,  Jacob  Snider,  and  Daniel  M.  Baker.  The  last  three  and 
John  B.  Ruthrauff  and  Rush  B.  Oellig  are  the  ministers  in  the 
service  in  1899. 

The  ministers,  two  together,  go  on  a  circuit  through  the  con- 
gregation. The  two  ministers  who  will  be  at  a  place  on  one 
Sunday  will  be  at  another  the  next,  that  there  be  no  disappoint- 
ments, and  the  ministers  become  better  acquainted  with  the  mem- 
bers. The  membership  numbers  about  four  hundred,  eighty  of 
whom  live  in  Waynesboro,  where  they  have  a  meeting-house 
and  a  Sunday-school  conducted  by  the  members  only.  The  mem- 
bers meet  in  council  quarterly.     The  secretary  records  all  that  is 

11 


162  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

brought  before  the  meeting,  with  its  decisions,  and  keeps  a  record 
of  the  attendance  of  members. 

In  the  primitive  days  of  the  church  the  Welch  Run  and  Bock 
Creek  congregations  belonged  to  it,  and  in  later  years  out  of  it 
the  Ridge  and  Falling  Spring  churches  were  organized. 

At  first  they  worshiped  all  together  in  the  German  language. 
It  was  not  until  the  year  1830  that  any  English  preaching  was 
done,  and  then  only  one  sermon  in  a  month.  But  during  the 
last  thirty  years  this  has  all  changed.  English  only  is  mostly 
spoken. 

There  are  two  Sunday-schools  kept  up  the  year  round,  and 
another  during  the  summer  months  only.  On  Wednesday  even- 
ings they  have  prayer-meetings,  and  on  Sunday  evenings,  before 
the  regular  services,  they  have  a  young  people's  meeting. 

AUGHWICK,     PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  Aughwick  church,  Huntingdon  County,  Pennsylvania, 
was  organized  about  1802,  with  only  six  members,  namely,  Chris- 
tian Long  and  wife,  Daniel  Secrist  and  wife,  and  Peter  Secrist 
and  wife.  Of  these  Christian  Long  was  chosen  minister,  and 
Daniel  Secrist  deacon.  They  could  only  labor  in  German,  and 
hence,  for  a  time,  there  was  but  little  progress  in  number ;  but 
soon  after  the  organization  some  members  moved  in  from  other 
points.  In  a  few  years,  Jacob  Lutz,  also  German,  was  chosen 
to  the  ministry ;  and  again,  in  a  few  more  years,  John  Hanawalt 
was  chosen.  He  could  speak  in  English,  and  the  work  seemed 
to  move  a  little  faster.  The  number  was  about  twenty-five, 
when,  in  1826,  Peter  Long  was  chosen  to  the  ministry;  and  in 
1827  Andrew  Spanogle  and  John  King  were  elected.  Next  in 
turn,  in  1835,  was  Michael  Bollinger;  and  afterward,  in  1839, 
were  elected  Grabill  Myers  and  Christian  Long,  Jr.  John  Glock 
was  chosen  in  1842,  and  John  Spanogle  in  1844.  About  this 
time  the  Aughwick  church  was  denominated  "a  preacher  fac- 
tory." This  seemed  to  be  suitable,  for  the  good  work  still  went 
on  as  follows:  Abraham  Funck,  in  1847;  Enoch  Eby,  in  1850; 
George  Myers,  in  1853;  James  R.  Lane,  in  1858;  Peter  Swayne, 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  1 63 

in  1861 ;  Christian  Myers,  in  1865  ;  Isaac  Book  and  John  Garver, 
in  1869;  Robert  Wakefield,  in  1872;  Seth  Myers,  in  1874;  W.  L. 
Spanogle,  in  1877. 

Of  the  foregoing  twenty-two  ministers,  Christian  Long,  the 
first  elected,  served  about  forty-seven  years,  and  died  in  1849. 
In  1877  ^our  more  had  departed  this  life.  Seven  were  still  in  the 
bounds  of  the  original  Aughwick  church,  which  was  afterward 
divided  into  three  organizations ;  and  ten  migrated  to  other 
places  to  carry  forward  the  good  work. 

BROWNSVILLE    CHURCH,    MARYLAND. 

The  Brownsville  church  comprises  the  lower  part  of  Washing- 
ton County,  known  as  Pleasant  Valley,  also  the  southern  part  of 
Middletown  Valley,  Frederick  County,  Maryland. 

This  congregation  is  located  upon  territory  embraced  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Grossnickle  congregation,  embracing  Mechanics- 
town  on  the  east,  during  1878,  in  D.  P.  Sayler's  congregation,  and 
extending  westward  to  a  point  six  miles  beyond  Charlestown, 
Jefferson  County,  West  Virginia.  The  Virginia  portion  of  this 
Grossnickle  congregation  is  now  under  the  supervision  of  Elder 
David  Long  (since  deceased),  of  Washington  County,  Maryland. 
After  cutting  off  the  two  extreme  points  of  the  Grossnickle  con- 
gregation, as  above,  only  Middletown  Valley,  with  the  lower  por- 
tion of  Pleasant  Valley,  was  left,  leaving  the  last-named  congre- 
gation about  twenty  miles  north  and  south  and  eight  miles  east 
and  west.  In  time  this  territory  was  divided  by  the  great 
national  turnpike,  which  runs  from  Baltimore  westward.  All  the 
members  south  of  said  road  belong  to  the  Brownsville  congre- 
gation. Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  brethren 
emigrated  from  Pennsylvania  to  this  section  of  the  country. 
Among  those  early  pioneers  was  John  Slifer,  whose  name  appears 
in  the  annual  meeting  minutes  of  those  early  days,  Peter  Miller, 
and  Peter  Garver.  Those  named  took  up  land  around  what  is 
known  as  Burkittsville,  Frederick  County,  and  Rudolph  Brown, 
about  the  same  time,  settled  in  Pleasant  Valley,  Washington 
County.      Brownsville  is  named    after  him.      Burkittsville  and 


164  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Brownsville  are  but  two  miles  apart,  yet  the  South  Mountain 
runs  between  them.  And  here  at  Burkittsville  is  Crapton  Gap, 
a  place  rendered  famous  in  American  history  by  a  battle  being 
fought  during  the  Civil  War,  which  took  place  September  14, 
1862. 

For  some  years  the  scattered  members  through  this  section  of 
country  were  dependent  upon  traveling  ministers — Brother  Fer- 
gason  and  Elder  Jacob  Leatherman.  After  Fergason,  Christian 
Harshman  and  a  brother  by  the  name  of  Holler,  who  has  three 
sons  in  the  west  preaching.  After  those  came  Christian  Harsh- 
man,  Jr.,  and  Jacob  Leatherman.  Next  in  succession,  Daniel 
Brown.  Jacob  Leatherman  was  the  first  elder.  Then  followed 
Henry  Koontz,  George  Bear,  Emanuel  Slifer,  Daniel  Boyer,  Ezra 
Gilbert,  George  Grossnickle,  and  Jonathan  Baker.  Grossnickle 
circuit  was  divided  in  April,  1864.  Brother  George  Bear  at  this 
time  was  also  an  elder,  who  was  assigned  to  Brownsville  congre- 
gation. Brother  Jacob  Leatherman  had  the  supervision  of  the 
Grossnickle  church.  In  1879  the  ministers  in  this  congregation 
were  George  Leatherman  and  Daniel  Gibbon.  Brother  Bear 
continued  elder  of  the  Brownsville  congregation  until  his  death, 
April  16,  1872,  aged  eighty-three  years.  October  14,  1873, 
Emanuel  Slifer  was  ordained  elder  of  the  Brownsville  congrega- 
tion, whose  assistants  were  Cornelius  W.  Castle  and  Eli  Yourtee. 
In  1878  there  were  forty-three  added  to  this  church,  and  the 
number  of  members  was  about  134;  and  at  that  time  they  com- 
pleted an  addition  to  their  meeting-house. 

COAL    CREEK,    ILLINO. 

In  the  autumn  of  1844,  Jacob  Negley,  with  his  family,  came  to 
Fulton  County,  Illinois,  not  knowing  of  any  members  there.  In 
the  spring  of  1845,  David  Zuck  and  his  family  came.  He  was 
in  the  second  degree  of  the  ministry.  They  held  social  meetings 
at  their  houses  every  two  weeks.  At  first  their  congregations 
were  small,  but  after  their  neighbors  heard  of  it,  the  congrega- 
tions increased.  John  Markley  and  his  wife,  from  Ohio,  had  been 
there  several  years.     In  the  autumn  of  1847,  Daniel  Martin  and 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  1 65 

his  family  came.  He  was  an  ordained  elder.  These,  excepting 
Markley  and  his  wife,  all  came  from  Welsh  Run,  Franklin 
County,  Pennsylvania.  They  then  commenced  holding  meetings 
regularly  in  schoolhouses,  and  they  had  a  small  organized  body 
of  about  eight  or  nine  members.  They  adopted  for  a  name  Coal 
Creek. 

About  a  year  later,  one  Sunday  morning,  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Ensign  called  at  Brother  Negley's  house  to  shelter  from  a 
storm.  After  some  conversation  he  asked  to  what  denomination 
they  belonged.  The  answer  was  that  they  belonged  to  the  Ger- 
man Baptists,  but  were  probably  more  commonly  known  by  the 
name  of  Tunkers.  He  said,  "Then  you  belong  to  soup  peo- 
ple." The  reply  was,  "Yes,  we  have  soup  at  our  communion 
meetings."  He  then  said,  "I  know  a  man  by  the  name  of  Wolfe, 
in  Adams  County,  an  able  preacher,  who  belongs  to  your  church." 
When  asked  for  the  first  name  and  address  of  Brother  Wolfe,  he 
could  give  neither,  but  he  said  that  he  had  a  brother-in-law  in  the 
same  county,  by  the  name  of  Bushnel,  belonging  to  the  same 
church,  whose  address  was  Liberty. 

Shortly  after,  Brother  Wolfe  was  written  to,  in  care  of  Brother 
Bushnel.  About  two  weeks  later  Brother  Bushnel  visited  the 
brethren  in  Fulton  County,  and  it  was  concluded  that  they  were 
of  the  same  faith,  and  he  gave  Brother  Wolfe's  full  name  and 
address,  upon  which  they  entered  into  correspondence  with 
Brother  Wolfe,  giving  him  invitations  to  visit  them. 

Probably  in  the  autumn  of  1849,  the  brethren  in  Fulton 
County,  Illinois,  had  their  first  love-feast.  They  had  become 
more  extensively  known,  and  Brother  Samuel  Garber,  from  Ogle 
County,  and  Brother  Wolfe  attended.  Being  strangers  to  each 
other,  they  had  a  council  meeting,  at  which  they  concluded  to 
commune  with  each  other,  and  to  wash  feet  in  the  single  mode. 

At  the  next  annual  meeting  Elder  Garber  introduced  Elder 
Wolfe,  and  afterwards  the  latter  visited  the  brethren  in  Fulton 
County  frequently.  In  1876  in  this  church  there  were  four  min- 
isters, two  of  whom  were  ordained  elders,  one  in  the  second 
degree  of  the  ministry  and  one  in  the  first  degree,  and  there  were 
three  deacons,  and  about  sixty  members. 


1 66  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

DANISH     MISSION. 

The  Danish  Mission,  by  the  Tunkers,  was  brought  about  mainly 
through  Brother  Christian  Hope,  who  was  born  in  Denmark, 
December  7,  1844. 

His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  of  limited  means.  However,  he 
sent  him  to  school  seven  years,  the  time  required  for  a  common- 
school  education.  He  possessing  fine  natural  abilities,  his  father 
early  resolved  to  place  his  son  in  the  ministry,  but  his  mother 
frustrated  this,  and  he  was  sent  to  learn  harness  making. 

It  seems  that  from  his  youth  it  was  impressed  on  his  mind 
that  he  should  become  a  missionary,  and  in  1864  he  was  brought 
under  conviction  by  reading  the  Scriptures.  Believing  the  state 
church  to  be  in  error  in  many  things,  he  associated  with  the 
Baptists,  and  united  with  them  on  the  1st  of  April,  1865.  He  did 
not  find  the  union  and  peace  he  had  expected  in  the  church.  He 
thought  the  members  did  not  live  as  they  should. 

Zealous,  earnest,  and  sympathetic,  he  pressed  the  priests  with 
questions  and  arguments  which  aroused  their  enmity,  rather  than 
love  and  forbearance.  He  criticized  the  king  of  Denmark  for 
acts  which  he  regarded  as  without  warrant  in  the  divine  law. 

Seeing  corruption  looming  up  on  all  sides,  he  beheld  Christian- 
ity wanting,  and  unbelief  asserting  its  sway  over  the  people.  His 
soul  was  grieved,  his  heart  saddened  by  the  fearful  manifestations 
of  uncleansed  affections  among  his  countrymen.  Believing  that 
those  who  should  exhibit  the  greatest  virtue  had  fallen  from  wis- 
dom and  goodness,  he  attempted  a  reformation  by  issuing  a  fifty- 
two  page  pamphlet,  with  the  flaming  headings,  "A  FALLING 
AWAY,"  "ANTI-CHRIST,"  "THE  SON  OF  PERDITION." 
He  also  issued  four  sixteen-page  tracts,  entitled  respectively, 
"Marriage  and  Wedding,"  "Can  a  Rich  Man  Be  Saved?"  "Lo, 
Here ;  Lo,  There !"  "The  Scaffold,"  or  "A  Voice  from  the  Infernal 
House."  All  of  these  were  published  in  1869,  and  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  publisher  he  disposed  o'f  his  stock  in  trade,  gave 
his  furniture  to  the  poor,  and  went  about  distributing  his  tracts, 
and  preaching  the  gospel.     At  the  close  of  the  year  his  printer 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  1 67 

was  called  upon  by  a  government  officer  to  answer  for  the  tract, 
"The  Scaffold,"  but  not  until  diligent  search  had  been  made  for 
the  young  man  who  had  turned  the  country  upside  down  with 
his  "Scaffold."  The  printer  sought  young  Hope,  and  told  him 
of  the  difficulty.  The  young  soldier  at  once  surrendered  himself 
to  the  government,  appeared  in  court,  and  confessed  authorship 
and  responsibility,  thus  clearing  the  printer.  As  the  Danish  laws 
require  printers  to  be  responsible  for  the  character  of  each  pub- 
lication issued  through  them,  and  the  counsel  of  the  king  finding 
that  young  Hope  had  no  property,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
printer,  and  secured  judgment  against  him  for  2,000  crowns. 
However,  by  some  good  streak  of  fortune,  the  printer  was  let  off 
with  a  very  small  sum.  He  continued  to  preach  peace  and  good- 
will to  his  fellow-citizens,  and  in  four  months  held  340  meetings, 
which  were  attended  by  large  crowds. 

Before  this  took  place  he  and  a  friend  had  almost  resolved  to 
sail  across  the  great  Atlantic  for  free  America,  and  in  casting 
lots  it  was  determined  that  they  should  go.  During  the  interval 
between  his  arrest  by  the  government  for  the  "Scaffold"  publica- 
tion, two  more  were  issued,  entitled  "The  Mark  of  the  Beast," 
and  "Redemption."  These  created  a  storm  of  indignation,  and 
a  reward  of  twenty  crowns  was  offered  for  his  capture.  The 
mail  and  telegraph  were  brought  into  use  for  his  apprehension, 
and  every  other  means  was  used  to  secure  his  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment, so  that  several  times  he  barely  escaped  being  captured,  but 
a  way  of  escape  was  opened,  and  he  reached  Norway  in  safety. 

Here  he  proclaimed  the  gospel,  as  he  then  understood  it,  in  low 
and  in  high  places,  for  a  month  or  more  to  great  crowds  of  peo- 
ple, who  thronged  to  hear  the  young  defender  of  the  truth  and 
the  Bible.  From  here  he  started  for  America,  reaching  the  cen- 
tral part  of  Iowa  about  harvest-time,  in  1870.  He  remained  in 
central  Iowa  one  and  one-half  years,  and,  after  having  married, 
went  to  Clinton.  Here  he  joined  the  English  Baptists.  To 
become  better  acquainted  with  the  English  language  he  bought 
some  English  books,  and  among  these  was  a  family  Bible,  which 
contained  historical  sketches  of  various  denominations.     Here  he 


l68  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

first  learned  of  the  Tunkers.  He  at  once  saw  that  this  people 
were  in  possession  of  many  of  the  practical  truths  for  which  he 
had  so  earnestly  labored  in  Denmark.  He  made  inquiry  of  a 
Baptist  deacon,  who  replied  that  he  knew  some  of  the  Tunkers 
years  ago  in  the  east,  and  added,  "They  want  to  be  a  little  smarter 
than  other  people,  that's  all."  The  only  thing  that  seemed  to  puz- 
zle him  was  trine  immersion.  He  saw  that  Matt.  28 :  19  would 
sustain  it,  but,  like  many  others,  thought  single  immersion  just 
as  good.  He  read  that  "scrap  of  history"  time  and  again,  and 
the  oftener  he  read  it,  the  more  he  was  assured  that  if  the  Tunkers 
live  as  they  teach,  he  could  live  with  them. 

He  had  much  trouble  in  finding  the  Tunkers,  but  succeeded  at 
last,  and  was  received  by  baptism  into  the  church  at  Hickory 
Grove,  Carroll  County,  111. 

He  settled  down  to  work  in  Mt.  Carroll,  where  he  remained  a 
few  months,  and  then,  at  the  solicitation  of  kind  friends,  moved 
to  Lanark,  where  he  continued  working  at  the  harness  trade. 

Having  found  peace  with  God  and  gladness  of  heart,  he  had 
not  forgotten  his  countrymen,  and  here  commenced  to  translate 
Moore  and  Eshelman's  pamphlets  into  Danish,  thinking  that  per- 
haps some  day  he  would  be  able  to  have  them  printed  and  dis- 
tributed in  Denmark.  One  day  Brother  Eshelman  came  to  visit 
him,  and  the  conversation  soon  drifted  toward  tract  work. 
Brother  Eshelman  said,  "I  will  begin  the  work  by  giving  twenty- 
five  cents ;  will  you  do  the  same  ?"  They  did  so,  and  called  on 
others  for  help,  through  the  papers,  and  soon  $400  was  donated 
toward  publishing  the  translated  pamphlets. 

While  this  was  going  on  he  wrote  to  an  old-time  friend  of  his 
in  Denmark,  named  Christian  Hansen,  concerning  the  brethren, 
and  sent  him  Moore  and  Eshelman's  pamphlets,  as  Mr.  Hansen 
could  read  English.  Brother  Hope  prayed  God  to  give  him 
grace  to  know  the  truth  and  obey  it.  By  the  time  the  $400  for 
the  tract  fund  was  in,  he  had  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Hansen 
to  the  Cherry  Grove  church,  Carroll  County,  Illinois,  asking  to 
have  the  gospel  preached  in  Denmark,  and  wishing  to  be  received 
into  the  church.     This  brought  the  church  to  action,  and  after 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  169 

the  request  was  read,  it  was  agreed  by  the  Cherry  Grove  congre- 
gation to  seek  the  counsel  of  all  the  churches  comprising  the 
northern  Illinois  district.  It  was  agreed  to  convene  in  special 
district  council,  at  Cherry  Grove,  November  12,  1875.  Every 
church  but  one  was  represented,  and  the  house  densely  crowded 
with  earnest,  sympathizing  members  from  the  various  congrega- 
tions. The  Spirit  of  God  seemed  to  fill  every  heart;  and  there 
was  but  one  expression,  and  that  was  that  the  call  must  be  heeded. 
But  who  should  go  ?  was  the  momentous  question.  It  was  finally 
decided  that  the  delegates  should  choose  two  brethren  to  fill  the 
call,  and  that  the  general  brotherhood  should  be  invited  to  con- 
tribute money  to  meet  expenses,  but  that  if  sufficient  would  not 
be  contributed,  northern  Illinois  would  bear  the  whole  burden. 

Brothers  Enoch  Eby  and  Paul  Wetzel  were  chosen  to  go  to 
Denmark,  but  later  Daniel  Fry  was  chosen  in  place  of  Brother 
Wetzel.  Brother  Hope  was  chosen  to  be  their  interpreter,  as 
the  brethren  selected  could  not  speak  Danish. 

It  was  agreed  that  Brother  Hope  should  prepare  immediately 
and  go  in  advance  to  begin  the  work.  By  the  first  of  January, 
1876,  Brother  Hope  left  Lanark,  Illinois,  and  visited  his  wife's 
parents  at  Clinton,  Iowa,  and  other  friends,  and  then  set  sail  for 
Denmark.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were  very  seasick,  but  landed 
safely. 

They  went  to  see  Christian  Hansen,  who  lived  in  the  northern 
part  of  Denmark.  He  was  glad  to  see  them,  but  thought  it  best 
that  they  should  locate  in  the  southern  part  of  the  country,  so 
they  located  at  Assens. 

Their  first  work  was  to  distribute  the  translated  tracts  among 
the  people,  so  as  to  awaken  them  to  a  sense  of  gospel  duty. 

Hansen  was  baptized  May  5,  1876.  He  informed  Brother 
Hope  of  a  young  woman  who  was  seeking  the  Lord,  and  would 
likely  join  the  brethren  if  he  would  go  and  see  her.  He  went, 
and  on  the  27th  of  May  she  was  baptized.  This  finished  the 
harvesting  for  1876.  Brother  Hansen  traveled  during  the  sum- 
mer of  1876,  and  distributed  pamphlets  all  over  the  country.  He 
was  apprehended  and  thrown  into  prison  because  he  refused  to 
do  militarv  dutv. 


iy0  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Elders  Eby  and  Fry  and  their  wives  landed  in  October,  1877, 
and  a  church  was  organized  by  them  at  Hjorring.  There  were 
thirteen  members  at  the  time  of  organization.  Brother  Hope  was 
advanced  to  the  second  degree,  Brother  C.  C.  Eskilsen  was  chosen 
to  the  ministry,  and  Brother  N.  C.  Nielsen  chosen  deacon. 

Brother  Hope  was  shortly  afterwards  advanced  to  the  elder- 
ship, and  before  returning  home  the  American  brethren  also 
ordained  Brother  Eskilsen  to  the  eldership,  and  he  was  given 
charge  of  the  church. 

Brother  Hope  remained  in  this  part  of  Denmark  about  two 
years,  and  then  went  to  Copenhagen,  and  started  to  work  there. 
Here  there  were  at  one  time  about  twenty  members,  but  there  are 
only  a  few  left  now.  (They  did  not  do  well  in  Copenhagen, 
largely  because  of  the  mode  of  dress  required.) 

In  1884  Brother  Hope  moved  to  Malmo,  Sweden,  and  com- 
menced to  work  there.  Returning  to  the  United  States  in  1887, 
he  located  in  Herrington,  Kansas. 

Since  then  he  has  been  in  the  mission  work  all  of  the  time,  and 
under  the  direction  of  the  German  Baptist  Mission  Board,  and 
has  been  working  in  many  states.  He  was  sent  to  Denmark  and 
Sweden  several  times  to  help  the  work  along.  He  crossed  the 
ocean  nine  times. 

He  was  there  in  1899,  and  coming  home  in  the  spring,  was  sent 
to  Texas,  and  was  there  when  that  part  of  the  country  was  flooded. 
He  contracted  disease  from  it,  and  came  home  sick,  dying  after 
an  illness  of  about  ten  days,  July  31,  1899,  leaving  a  wife  and  six 
children. 

In  1899  there  were  in  Denmark  eighty-two  members,  of  which 
four  are  elders,  two  are  ministers,  and  seven  are  deacons ;  and  in 
Sweden  eighty-four  members,  of  which  three  are  elders,  four  are 
ministers,  and  three  are  deacons. 

DRY    CREEK    CHURCH,    IOWA. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1854,  Brother  T.  G.  Snyder  and  family 
left  their  home  in  Blair  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  emigrated  to 
the  west.     They  arrived  in  Linn  County,  Iowa,  April  16,  1854. 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  171 

Brother  Snyder,  then  a  deacon,  and  his  wife  were  the  first  mem- 
bers in  the  county.  The  second  family  of  members  was  that  of 
Elder  Jacob  O.  Waters,  who  emigrated  from  the  Conemaugh 
congregation,  Cambria  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  spring  of 
1856.  Within  a  few  months  ten  or  twelve  members  were  located 
in  this  vicinity,  and  Elder  Wagner,  of  Ohio,  assisted  Elder  Waters 
to  organize  what  is  now  known  as  the  Dry  Creek  church. 

In  the  fall  of  1856,  this  little  congregation  held  their  first  love- 
feast  in  Brother  Snyder's  barn.  A  few  brethren  from  Waterloo 
and  elsewhere  were  present  on  this  occasion,  and  about  twenty 
enjoyed  a  very  pleasant  feast  together.  At  this  time  a  choice 
was  held  for  a  speaker,  which  resulted  in  calling  Brother  Snyder 
to  the  ministry.  Two  years  later  this  little  band  of  brethren 
gained  strength  enough  to  build  the  first  meeting-house  in  the 
state.  It  is  still  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  though  it  plainly 
shows  the  marks  of  age. 

It  was  here  that  the  Quinter  and  McConnell  debate  was  held, 
in  1867,  which  resulted  in  the  entire  overthrow  of  the  Disciple 
Church  in  this  vicinity.  The  house  in  which  the  debate  was  heid 
has  long  since  been  torn  away.  A  dim  outline  of  the  foundation 
is  all  that  marks  the  place  where  once  stood  a  flourishing  church. 
Many  were  added  to  the  Tunker  Church  after  the  debate,  and 
ever  since  they  have  had  a  strong  hold  in  the  community. 

Ministers  elected  up  to  the  time  when  the  old-order  brethren 
withdrew,  -were,  Jonathan  Keys,  J.  C.  Miller,  Solomon  Stamy, 
and  Martin  Boyd.  Those  moving  into  the  district  were,  John 
Filmore,  Moses  Rogers,  John  Veach,  Daniel  Hoisinger,  and 
Abram  Stamy.  Those  who  went  with  the  old-order  brethren 
were,  Daniel  Hoisinger,  Solomon  Stamy,  Martin  Boyd,  and  J.  C. 
Miller,  who  took  with  them  nearly  sixty  members. 

The  church,  in  1894,  had  a  membership  of  about  one  hundred, 
and  three  houses  of  worship,  two  in  the  country  and  one  in  the 
city  of  Cedar  Rapids.  The  latter  was  the  outgrowth  of  the 
annual  meeting  held  there  in  the  spring  of  1892. 


172  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ELKHART,  INDIANA. 

Among  the  first  venturers  into  this  wild,  new  country  was 
Daniel  Cripe,  an  elder  in  the  Tunker  Church.  He,  with  his 
family,  and  Jacob  Cripe,  Christopher  Stouder,  and  John  Pipenger 
and  their  families,  came  in  1829.  Daniel  Cripe  was  a  man  of 
medium  height,  broad-shouldered  and  well  muscled ;  his  face  was 
smooth-shaven,  and  complexion  light.  Being  of  kindly  disposi- 
tion, he  made  many  friends,  and  commanded  the  love  and  respect 
of  all  who  knew  him. 

He  selected  for  himself  a  half  section  of  land  on  Elkhart 
prairie,  about  two  miles  south  of  where  the  city  of  Goshen  now 
stands,  and  at  once  erected  a  log  cabin  upon  it,  and  made  other 
necessary  preparations  for  a  home.  He,  with  his  friends,  con- 
structed a  rude  plow  with  a  wooden  moldboard,  for  the  purpose 
of  turning  a  few  furrows  to  mark  their  claims,  and  put  out  small 
crops  to  raise  provisions  for  the  coming  winter. 

After  making  the  plow,  the  question  arose  as  to  who  should  use 
it  first.  It  was  decided  that  the  oldest  should  first  use  it,  and,  as 
Daniel  Cripe  was  the  oldest,  the  lot  fell  to  him,  and  thus,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  he  was  the  first  white  settler  to  plow  a  furrow  on 
Elkhart  prairie. 

Having  established  his  new  home,  he  returned  in  the  early  part 
of  1830  to  Montgomery  County,  Ohio,  his  former  home,  and 
induced  his  son  Samuel,  and  family,  to  emigrate  to  this  country. 
Martin  Weybright  and  family,  Jacob  Studebaker  and  family,  and 
others,  came  also  the  same  year.  In  the  early  part  of  the  sum- 
mer of  1830  a  daughter,  Rosanna,  was  born  to  the  wife  of  John 
Cripe,  nephew  of  Daniel  Cripe,  she  being  the  first  child  born  to 
any  of  the  brethren  in  northern  Indiana.  The  Cripe  family  has 
since  become  very  numerous,  and  has  exerted  no  small  influence 
in  the  history  of  the  church  of  this  county,  a  large  portion  of  it 
adhering  closely  to  the  teachings  of  the  church. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  be  remembered  by  these  early  settlers 
was  their  devotion  to  God.  Accordingly,  services  were  held  in 
the  homes  of  the  members,  Elder  Cripe  preaching  in  German. 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  173 

The  work  prospered,  and  soon,  in  the  spring  of  1830,  was  organ- 
ized the  Elkhart  church.  This  was  the  nucleus  around  which  were 
formed  all  the  churches  of  the  northern  district  of  Indiana. 
From  the  first  they  called  themselves  the  Brethren,  and  for  a  long 
time  were  known  by  no  other  name. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1830  the  church  decided  to 
hold  a  love-feast.  No  beef  could  be  procured,  therefore  Elder 
Cripe  gave  a  ewe  lamb — the  only  one  he  had — for  the  supper. 
About  twenty  members  communed.  It  was  held  in  Elder  Cripe's 
house,  and  was  pronounced,  by  some  present,  as  the  most  enjoy- 
able feast  they  had  ever  attended. 

Traveling  in  those  days  was  very  difficult,  and  many  hardships 
had  to  be  endured,  even  after  reaching  the  settlement.  But  these 
difficulties  stimulated  them  to  greater  efforts.  Emigrants  from 
the  east  kept  pouring  in,  and,  settling  in  different  localities,  soon 
covered  a  great  amount  of  territory.  This  created  much  work 
for  Elder  Cripe,  and,  feeling  the  need  of  help,  a  church  meeting 
was  called,  and  two  brethren,  Martin  Weybright  and  Jacob  Stude- 
baker,  were  chosen  to  the  ministry.  These  were  the  first  two 
brethren  elected  to  the  ministry  in  northern  Indiana. 

Other  ministers  moved  from  the  east,  and  made  this  their  home. 
John  Leatherman  came  in  1835,  and  settled  in  the  southern  part 
of  Elkhart  County.  Soon  after  eight  members  of  that  portion 
of  the  territory  were  organized  into  a  separate  congregation,  and 
are  known  as  the  Turkey  Creek  church. 

Elder  James  Tracey  came  in  about  1850.  He  was  a  natural 
orator  and  born  leader  of  men,  and,  by  his  strong  traits  of  per- 
sonal character,  exerted  a  wonderful  influence  for  the  church. 
Through  his  efforts  the  Elkhart  district  was  again  divided,  this 
time  into  three  separate  congregations.  The  Rock  Run  church 
was  cut  off  on  the  east  and  the  Yellow  Creek  church  on  the  west. 
Later  the  Elkhart  Valley  district  was  cut  off  on  the  northwest. 
A  number  of  churches  have  been  organized  from  the  Elkhart 
church. 

The  lives  and  the  work  of  our  pioneer  brethren  are  full  of 
interest.     As  a  historian  says  of  the  Puritans,  so  we  say  of  our 


174  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ancestors :  'They  were  sturdy  men  and  women,  and  the  sturdiest 
part  of  them  was  their  principles.  When  they  began  the  structure 
of  their  new  society,  they  began  at  the  bottom.  They  built  upon 
God  and  in  godliness.  Christ  was  their  foundation,  and  His  edi- 
fice was  the  structure  which  they  sought  to  build." 

Elder  Cripe  died  in  1859,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years  and 
six  months.  His  ashes  now  rest  in  the  little  cemetery  near  the 
eastern  edge  of  Elkhart  prairie.  His  grave  is  a  modest  one,  and 
but  few  people  in  passing  by  realize  that  here  lie  the  remains  of 
the  organizer  of  the  first  Tunker  Church  in  what  was  then 
known  as  the  northwest,  and  the  first  Protestant  minister  in 
Elkhart  County. 

FLAT    ROCK,    VIRGINIA. 

One  hundred  years  ago,  the  first  brother  moved  to  the  valley 
of  Virginia,  and  settled  in  the  upper  end  of  Shenandoah  County. 
He  was  a  minister,  and  his  name  was  John  Garber.  He  was  the 
father  of  seven  sons,  six  of  whom  became  ministers,  and  the  other 
a  deacon.  They  were  all  faithful  ministers,  planted  many 
churches  in  Virginia,  Tennessee,  and  Ohio,  and .  all  lived  to  be 
aged.  Martin  Garber,  one  of  the  seven,  remained  in  the  county 
near  the  home  of  his  father,  traveled  much,  and  labored  faithfully 
in  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer,  connected  with  some  of  the  writ- 
ings of  the  old  brethren  in  the  encyclopedia.  He  was  elder  of  the 
first  district  of  Virginia,  which  then  extended  from  Harrisonburg 
to  the  Maryland  line. 

When  the  membership  became  large,  the  district  was  divided, 
and  Jacob  Wine,  grandson  of  Martin  Garber,  became  first  elder 
in  the  Flat  Rock  district.  The  district  took  its  name  from  the 
rock  on  which  the  meeting-house  is  built,  it  being  one  mile  from 
where  Martin  Garber  lived.  This  rock  has  an  area  of  about  one 
acre.  It  was  deeded  to  the  church  by  Brother  Michael  Wine,  St., 
who  lived  in  a  house  in  which,  over  eighty  years  ago,  a  yearly 
meeting  was  held.  The  house  was  not  more  than  half  full  of 
people.  An  old  man  from  the  South  Branch  being  present,  said 
that  the  house  was  so  large  there  ought  to  be  two  preachers. 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  1 75 

HICKORY    GROVE,    OHIO. 

From  1827  the  territory  now  known  as  Donnels  Creek,  Lost 
Creek,  and  Hickory  Grove,  were  one  organization,  presided  over 
by  Elder  Christian  Frantz.  In  the  part  now  called  Hickory 
Grove,  Isaac  Darst  was  a  minister ;  in  all,  about  twenty-five  mem- 
bers. In  1830  Henry  Harshbarger,  David  Landis,  deacons,  and 
Isaac  Karns,  elder,  moved  in.  Then  what  is  now  Hickory  Grove 
church  was  organized,  with  about  forty  members,  under  the  care 
of  Isaac  Karns. 

In  the  fall  of  1832  Isaac  Darst  died.  In  1833  John  Stude- 
baker  died.  In  1835  David  Landis  was  elected  to  the  ministry. 
In  1836  David  Shelabarger,  Adam  Stinebarger,  and  Henry  Rub- 
son,  ministers,  moved  in. 

In  1837  James  Ward  and  Daniel  Arnold  were  elected  deacons. 
Ward  at  this  time  insisted  on  the  ordination  of  Darst,  so  that 
their  children  could  be  married  in  English.  About  1849  the 
interest  in  the  good  cause  grew  so  low  that  for  a  time  there  was 
no  regular  preaching  services  held,  though  there  were  three  resi- 
dent ministers ;  but  by  the  efforts  of  David  Bowman,  John  Darst, 
and  Peter  Nead,  the  work  was  again  established,  David  Shela- 
barger being  in  charge. 

In  1853  David  Landis  and  David  Shelabarger  moved  out,  and 
Joseph  Arnold  and  Jacob  Snell  were  elected  deacons.  David 
Studebaker  moved  in.  He  proved  a  minister  of  great  influence, 
and  being  dead  yet  speaketh.  There  were  now  about  eighty 
members.  In  1855  the  present  house  of  worship  was  built.  In 
1856  Abraham  Studebaker  died.  In  1858  Joseph  Arnold  was 
elected  to  the  ministry,  S.  S.  Studebaker  deacon,  and  Henry  Rub- 
som  and  Adam  Stinebarger  ordained.  From  the  time  David 
Shelabarger  moved  out  until  the  above  ordination  the  church  was 
under  the  care  of  Elder  John  Frantz,  of  Donnells  Creek. 

In  i860  John  Crist  was  elected  to  the  ministry.  In  1863  G.  W. 
Studebaker  moved  in  and  labored  here  for  two  years,  then  moved 
to  Indiana.  In  this  time  the  death  of  David  Studebaker  occurred, 
which  was  deeply  lamented.  There  were  now  one  hundred 
members. 


176  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

About  1865  Rubsom  and  Stinebarger  were  relieved  of  their 
ministry  by  a  committee  from  annual  meeting,  and  H.  D.  Davy 
and  Abraham  Flory  placed  in  charge.  Flory  remained  in  charge 
until  the  division  of  '8i.  In  1866  Samuel  Coppock  was  elected 
minister,  Jacob  Hawier  and  John  Filburn,  deacons.  In  1872 
Isaac  Studebaker,  minister,  moved  in.  In  1873  O.  F.  Yount  was 
called  to  the  ministry,  and  labored  here  until  1876,  when  the  mid- 
dle district  was  formed.  He  and  Samuel  Coppock  were  living  in 
that  territory.  In  1879  Joseph  Arnold  was  ordained.  In  1880 
Henry  Gump  was  called  to  the  ministry. 

In  1 88 1  the  memorable  divide  took  from  this  church  about 
thirty  members,  including  Elder  Flory  and  three  deacons,  leaving 
the  church  with  Henry  Gump,  minister,  and  two  deacons ;  in  all, 
about  one  hundred  members.  The  church  now  called  Elder  John 
Smith  to  take  charge. 

In  1 88 1  Jacob  Coppock  was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  Henry 
Gump  advanced. 

In  1882  the  first  series  of  meetings  were  held,  resulting  in 
twenty-eight  accessions  and  greatly  confirming  the  members.  In 
1885  D.  S.  Filburn  was  called  to  the  ministry.  In  1886  Henry 
Gump  was  ordained.  In  1893  Samuel  Gump  was  called  to  the 
ministry. 

The  official  board  now  stands :  Ministers,  Henry  Gump,  Jacob 
Coppock,  D.  S.  Filburn,  and  Samuel  Gump ;  deacons,  Jacob  Kaw- 
ver,  Jacob  Snell,  George  Zimmerman,  and  Samuel  Studebaker. 
There  are  now  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  members.  There  are 
three  points  of  regular  preaching,  with  fair  attendance  and  inter- 
est. A  greater  per  cent  of  the  members'  children  are  in  the 
church. 

LITTLE     CONEWAGO,     PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  Little  Conewago  church  is  located  in  Pennsylvania,  York 
County,  Hanover  Township,  and  along  the  Conewago  River. 
The  central  point  was  about  twenty  miles  from  York  City.  It 
was  established  in  1738,  when  Brethren  Bigler,  Deardorff,  Eld- 
rick,  Gripe,  Stutsman,  and  some  others  who  resided  near  to  them, 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  177 

united  in  an  organization.  Elder  Daniel  Leatherman  attended 
to  this  service,  and  for  some  time  he  had  the  oversight  of  the 
congregation.  He  then  moved  to  Monocacy,  in  Maryland,  and 
Brother  Nicholas  Martin  was  selected  and  appointed  to  take  his 
place.  He  was  blessed  in  his  ministry,  but  also  left  them  and 
moved  to  Conococheaque,  Maryland.  After  this  Brethren  Jacob 
Moyer  and  James  Henricks  were  elected  for  the  ministry. 

In  1770  this  Little  Conewago  congregation  numbered  fifty-two 
members,  and  the  following  are  their  names  : — 

Jacob  Moyer  (minister)  and  wife,  Rudy  Brown  and  wife. 
Brother  Dobis  and  wife,  Mrs.  Bowser,  Maud  Bowser,  Barbara 
Bear,  Eliza  Bearing,  Henry  Donner  (tanner)  and  wife,  Christian 
Etor,  John  Geiny,  Henry  Geiny  and  wife,  James  Henrick  (min- 
ister) and  wife,  Nicholas  Housteter  and  wife,  Christian  Hous- 
teter,  Henry  Hoeff  and  wife,  Great  Hyman,  Michael  Kouts  and 
wife,  John  Moyer  and  wife,  Mrs.  Moyer,  Jacob  Miller  and  wife, 
Joseph  Moyer  and  wife,  Stephen  Peter,  wife,  and  daughters, 
George  Peter,  Hans  Adam  Sneider  and  wife,  John  Swartz  and 
wife,  Jacob  Souder  and  wife,  Barbara  Sneider,  Michael  Tanner 
and  wife,  John  Peter  Weaver,  George  Wine  and  wife,  Daniel 
Woods  and  wife,  Hester  Weiss. 

MAHONING,    OHIO. 

The  territory  occupied  by  the  Mahoning  church  was  settled  by 
white  people  about  the  year  1800.  John  Myers,  John  Shoemaker, 
and  John  Summers  were  among  the  first  Tunkers  that  settled 
there.  Ministers  from  Pennsylvania  preached  for  them  occa- 
sionally, and  from  time  to  time  some  were  baptized.  After  the 
lapse  of  several  years,  the  exact  date  of  which  we  could  not 
obtain,  it  was  deemed  proper  to  form  an  organization.  George 
Hoke  and  Joseph  Mellinger  were  chosen  to  the  ministry,  and 
John  Coller  and  Abram  Heastand  deacons.  George  Hoke  was 
ordained  to  the  eldership  in  the  year  1820,  and  David  Shoemaker 
and  David  Summers  chosen  to  the  ministry.  In  1826  Elder  Hoke 
moved  to  the  Canton  church,  but  retained  the  charge  of  the 
church.     A  number  of  other  members  moved  away,  keeping  up  a 

12 


I.78  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

constant  drain  on  the  membership.  During  the  years  interven- 
ing between  1827  and  1836,  David  Shoemaker,  David  Summers, 
Joseph  Mellinger,  Abraham  Myers,  and  Abraham  Heastand,  all 
ministers,  moved  from  this  congregation  to  the  vicinity  of  North 
Georgetown,  where  a  new  settlement  of  Tunkers  was  being 
formed.  This  left  David  Summers  and  Richard  Brenemon  the 
only  members  of  the  church.  Elder  Henry  Kurtz  about  this  time 
resided  in  the  Canton  church,  and  in  1841  Elder  George  Hoke 
authorized  him  to  visit  Mahoning  church  once  a  month.  Hic 
labors  were  greatly  blessed  in  the  conversion  of  sinners.  It  is 
recorded  that  at  one  meeting  he  baptized  ten  persons,  which  was 
then  regarded  a  remarkable  occasion.  In  the  spring  of  1842, 
Brother  Kurtz  moved  into  the  Mahoning  church,  and  four  other 
members  were  received  by  letter.  Soon  after  this  Henry  Kurtz 
was  given  charge  of  the  church,  although  not  ordained  at  that 
time.  There  were  then  about  fifty  members,  including  three 
ministers  and  three  deacons.  The  following  is  a  synopsis  of  the 
membership  gathered  from  the  church  record : — 

Number  of  members  in  1841 55 

By  letter  and  baptism,  to  1870 122 

Total,   1870 177 

Died  during  above  period 46 

Removed  to  other  places 69 

Number  left  in  1870 62 

George  Hoke  moved  to  Canton  in  1826,  where  he  preached 
about  twenty  years.  He  moved  to  the  Nimishillen  church,  and 
finally  to  Ashland,  where  he  died. 

Henry  Kurtz  was  ordained  Sept.  26,  1844,  and  died  Jan. 
12,  1874,  after  serving  the  church  thirty  years  in  the  capacity  of 
elder.  Philip  Rothenberger  lived  in  this  congregation  and  moved 
to  Indiana,  where  he  was  ordained.  James  Quinter  moved  into 
this  congregation  in   1856,  and  was  there  ordained.     Jacob  H. 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  179 

Kurtz  and  Noah  Longanecker  were  elected  to  the  ministry 
Aug.  30,  1861  ;  Jonas  Hoke  elected  Oct.  8,  1875,  D.  F.  Longan- 
ecker and  Edwin  Ruhlman,  Oct.  4,  1879. 

The  first  meeting-house  in  this  church  was  built  in  1849,  on 
the  Summers  place,  and  about  one  mile  from  the  residence  of 
Elder  Henry  Kurtz,  in  Mahoning  County,  Ohio.  This  was  the 
birthplace  of  the  monthly  Gospel  Visitor,  the  first  serial  publica- 
tion in  the  Tunker  Church  since  the  days  of  Christopher  Saur. 
In  1 87 1  another  house  of  worship  was  built  near  Columbiana, 
called  Zion  Hill.  In  this  house  Elder  Kurtz  preached  his  last 
sermon,  on  the  day  before  his  death. 

Before  the  erection  of  any  church  building,  services  were  held 
in  the  houses  and  barns  of  the  members.  The  following  is  a 
list  of  the  names  of  those  who  entertained  the  meetings  and  love- 
feasts  previous  to  the  time  of  houses  of  worship :  John  Summers, 
David  Hardman,  David  Summers,  M.  Shoemaker,  Jacob  Leedy, 
Conrad  Hauger,  Daniel  Summers,  M.  Bowman,  Jacob  Summers, 
Henry  Hoke,  George  Battenfield,  Daniel  Hardman,  John  Bright, 
Richard  Brenneman,  Adam  Anglemeyer,  Daniel  Wise,  Mathias 
Haas,  David  Brown,  Jacob  Longanecker,  Henry  Kurtz,  John  B. 
Summers,  and  Jacob  Haas. 

MARSH     CREEK,    PENNSYLVANIA. 

This  church  was  organized  about  18 10,  the  probable  member- 
ship being  twelve.  David  Pfautz  was  elected  to  the  ministry, 
and  Jacob  Sherfy  to  the  deaconship. 

About  181 3  Michael  Slothour,  a  minister,  came  into  the  church, 
and  he  served  as  such  until  1834,  when  he  died.  In  September, 
1830,  David  Ecker  and  John  Pfautz  were  chosen  to  the  ministry, 
and  Slothour  and  David  Bosserman  as  deacons.  August  28,  1836, 
the  latter  was  chosen  to  the  ministry.  August  27,  1 841,  Daniel 
Benner  was  chosen  speaker,  and  Joseph  Kittinger  deacon.  May 
23,  1845,  Henry  Bucher,  and  in  December,  same  year,  Michael 
Bushman,  were  chosen  to  the  ministry.  February  8.  1851,  J.  D. 
Trostle  was  chosen  to  the  ministry.  October  4,  1851,  Joseph 
Sherfey  and  Jacob   Diehl   were  elected   deacons,   and   on   May 


l8o  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

29,  1853,  the  former  was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  Jeremiah 
Sheets  elected  deacon.  Between  this  and  1874,  David  Blocher 
and  C.  Lahman  Pfoutz  were  chosen  to  the  ministry,  and  the  fol- 
lowing were  deacons :  H.  G.  Koser,  Samuel  Hoffe,  Isaac  Bucher, 
David  Blocher,  John  Trostle,  C.  Lahman  Pfautz,  Ephraim  Dear- 
dorfT,  Isaac  Pfautz,  and  B.  F.  Kittinger. 

It  is  said  that  David  Pfautz  was  ordained  in  1821,  and  that  he 
was  an  elder  till  his  death,  in  1849;  also  tnat  David  Bosserman 
was  ordained  in  1848,  and  that,  in  1877,  the  church  was  still 
flourishing  under  his  eldership. 

This  church  is  located  in  Adams  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  is 
bounded  by  these  churches :  Upper  Conewago,  Antietam,  Falling 
Spring,  Lower  and  LTpper  Cumberland,  Monocacy,  and  Pipe 
Creek.  The  membership  in  1877  was  193.  In  1850  the  territory 
was  formally  divided  into  six  sub-districts,  the  boundaries  being 
designated  by  public  roads  meeting  at  Gettysburg.  In  1877 
there  were  five  ministers,  eight  deacons,  and  five  places  for  regu- 
lar preaching.  At  that  date  there  were  but  two  meeting-houses, 
one  built  in  1830,  and  the  other  in  1852. 

MAQUOKETA,    IOWA. 

Jacob  Stutzman  and  wife  were  the  first  Tunker  members  who 
lived  in  the  territory  which  constitutes  the  Maquoketa  church. 
Afterward  Samuel  Brumbaugh  moved  in,  and  in  1852,  David 
Brower  preached  in  his  house,  which  was  the  first  Tunker  preach- 
ing in  that  community.  The  church  was  organized  in  the  fall 
of  1855,  at  the  house  of  Samuel  Brumbaugh.  Elders  Daniel  Fry 
and  Christian  Long  presided  at  the  organization,  and  Elder  Fry 
officiated  at  the  communion  meeting  following.  There  were  at 
that  time  nineteen  members  scattered  through  Jackson,  Clinton, 
and  Cedar  Counties.  Jacob  Stutzman  and  Henry  Haines  were 
elected  deacons.  There  was  no  minister  in  the  church  until  the 
following  year,  when  Jones  De  Haven  moved  in  from  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  following  ministers  were  elected  in  this  church: 
Felix  Senger,  Joshua  Schultz,  Johm  Gabel,  Jacob  Long,  and 
David  Kamiar,  and  Isaac  Barto  and  Marcus  H.  Fowler  moved 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  l8l 

in.  Joshua  Schultz  was  ordained  here  in  1874,  and  Isaac  Barto 
in  1880. 

Previous  to  1880,  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  members  were 
received  by  baptism  and  sixty-eight  by  letter.  Twenty-three 
members  died,  twenty-seven  were  disowned,  sixty-six  moved 
away,  and  fifteen  were  struck  off  by  a  change  of  territorial  lines. 
The  church  embraces  Clinton,  Scott,  and  the  eastern  one-half  of 
Jones  County.  The  officers  in  1880  were:  Joshua  Schultz  and 
Isaac  Barto,  elders;  John  Gabel  and  David  Kamiar,  ministers; 
J.  Kindig,  J.  Friday,  Levi  Snowberger,  J.  Scott,  George  Stramp, 
and  Fred  Oberfelt,  deacons. 

They  preached  at  Lost  Nation,  Grand  Mound,  South  Grove, 
Nashville,  Mill  Rock,  and  Calamus.  The  congregation  had  one 
church  at  Lost  Nation  valued  at  $1,300. 

MONOCACY,    MARYLAND. 

The  territory  constituting  the  Monocacy  church  was  formerly 
of  the  Beaver  Dam  congregation,  and  was  organized  into  a  sep- 
arate church  Dec.  3,  1855.  There  were  at  that  time  Vwenty-six 
brethren  and  fifty-three  sisters,  who  constituted  the  charter  mem- 
bers of  the  organization.  They  were  much  scattered  over  a  terri- 
tory 10x30  miles.  There  were  thirteen  different  sects  occupying 
the  same  territory  who  regarded  baptism  by  immersion  as  non- 
essential. At  the  time  of  the  organization  Daniel  P.  Saylor  was 
the  elder,  Daniel  Boyer  minister,  and  John  Weybright  deacon. 
The  first  baptism  was  administered  Aug.  3,  1856,  by  Elder  Saylor 
to  Peter  Fogle.  Since  then  to  1880  one  hundred  and  sixty  per- 
sons have  been  baptized  in  this  church.  Daniel  Harp,  Isaac 
Renner,  D.  R.  Saylor,  G.  A.  Hoover,  and  T.  J.  Kolb  were  chosen 
to  the  ministry. 

A  committee  appointed  by  the  annual  meeting  of  1879  to  visit 
Maryland  churches,  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  visit  this  con- 
gregation. The  church  has  two  meeting-houses,  one  at  Rocky 
Ridge,  the  other  at  Double  Pipe  Creek,  and  a  membership  of 
about  125  in  1880. 


1 82  history  of  the  tunkers. 

Morrison's   cove,   Pennsylvania. 

Extract  from  Charles  B.  Clark's  "Semi-Centennial  History  of 
Blair  County" : — 

"The  first  permanent  white  settlers  of  Blair  County,  coming 
into  the  southern  end  of  Morrison's  Cove  about  1760  or  earlier, 
are  Tunkers,  and  that  was  probably  the  first  religious  denomina- 
tion to  obtain  a  foothold  in  Blair  County  territory.  A  Presby- 
terian minister  by  the  name  of  Beatty  preached  a  sermon  one 
Sunday  at  Beaver  Dams,  now  called  McCann's  Mills,  in  1756; 
but  it  is  likely  that  the  Tunkers,  who  resided  here,  as  above  stated, 
held  religious  services  at  a  still  earlier  date,  and  that  the  congre- 
gation consisted  of  residents  of  the  Cove." 

I  further  glean  from  this  history  that  about  the  year  1765 
Jacob  Neff,  who  was  a  Tunker,  built  a  mill  where  Roaring  Spring 
is  now  situated.  His  mill  was  burned  by  the  Indians,  and  rebuilt 
by  him  prior  to  the  Revolution.  Later,  but  still  long,  long  ago, 
it  was  owned  by  John  Ullery.  He  had  a  brother  named  Samuel, 
who  was  the  first  Tunker  minister  in  the  Cove,  a  great  grand- 
father, on  the  mother's  side,  of  S.  B.  Furry,  the  writer  of  this 
article.  He  preached  in  the  Yellow  Creek  congregation,  south- 
east end  of  the  Cove,  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Enterprise.  So  far 
as  I  remember,  his  successors  in  office  were  Martin  Miller,  John 
Holsinger,  David  Brumbaugh,  Jacob  Miller,  John  Eshelman, 
Leonard  Furry,  and  Daniel  Snowberger.  All  died  before  the 
division  except  Jacob  Miller. 

According  to  the  "Biographical  Cyclopedia  of  Blair  County, 
Pennsylvania,"  "Jacob  Neff  killed  two  Indians  who  attacked  him 
at  his  mill  at  Roaring  Springs  in  November,  1777,  and  then  fled; 
after  which  the  entire  war  party  came  up  and  burned  his  mill." 
This  statement  must  be  wrong;  he  killed  only  one  Indian.  The 
facts,  as  I  gather  them  from  the  early  settlers,  are  these :  While 
in  his  mill,  two  Indians  suddenly  came  upon  him.  He  hid  in  the 
water-wheel.  He  remained  there  until  everything  was  quiet,  for 
a  good  while.  Then  he  emerged  with  his  gun,  and  ran  up  the 
hill  in  the  direction  of  East  Sharpsburg.     As  he  glanced  back, 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  1.8  3 

he  saw  one  of  the  Indians  close  upon  him,  gaining  on  him,  when 
he  suddenly  turned  and  fired.  The  Indian  fell  dead,  and  Neff 
escaped.  But  he  was  afterwards  disciplined  by  the  church. 
Some  said  he  was  expelled.  I  do  not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the 
last  statement.  S-  B-  Furry. 

NAPERVILLE,     ILLINOIS. 

The  first  brother  that  loacted  in  Du  Page  County,  Illinois,  was 
Jacob  Netzley,  probably  in  1850.  He  was  a  lay  member  at  that 
time,  but  afterwards  was  made  a  deacon.  They  had  no  meeting 
for  two  years.  During  this  time  they  heard  of  brethren  west  of 
them  in  Lee,  Ogle,  and  Stephenson  Counties.  In  1852  Samuel 
Garber,  Daniel  Fry,  and  Joseph  Emmert  responded  to  their  call, 
came  over,  and  preached  for  them.  This  was  the  first  meeting 
held  by  the  brethren  in  this  county.  Shortly  afterward  Levi 
Hartranft  and  wife  were  baptized,  being  the  first  in  the  county. 
Afterward  the  brethren  visited  them  every  eight  weeks.  In  1855 
the  church  was  organized  by  Elders  Samuel  Lehman,  Daniel  Fry, 
and  Joseph  Emmert.  After  that  they  were  five  years  without  a 
shepherd,  when  Elder  Samuel  Lehman  came  to  labor.  The  first 
minister  elected  was  Christian  Martin,  the  first  deacon  Jacob 
Netzley.  The  church  in  1878  numbered  about  seventy.  Of  this 
number  there  were  four  ministers,  Elder  C.  Martin,  Jacob  Solen- 
berger,  John  Hollinger,  George  Mowery. 

OREGON    COAST    CHURCHES. 

The  early  Tunker  Churches  of  Oregon  had.  the  usual  difficulties 
incident  to  frontier  work. 

Like  children  learning  to  walk,  they  had  much  to  learn  before 
they  could  keep  step  to  the  music  of  the  gospel  trumpet. 

About  the  year  1867,  a  very  ominous  cloud  hung  over  the  scat- 
tered membership  in  the  communities  of  Salem,  Albany,  and 
Lebanon,  foreboding  nothing  but  confusion.  With  a  view  of 
reviving  the  work  of  the  Lord  among  them,  they  sought  the 
assistance  of  the  California  churches,  who  sent  Elder  George 
Wolfe  and  Henry  Haines  (a  deacon)    to  their  assistance.     They 


I84  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

started  on  their  mission  April  27,  1867,  by  way  of  San  Francisco, 
Portland,  and  Oregon  City,  a  distance  of  nine  hundred  miles. 
After  a  voyage  of  seven  days  they  reached  their  destination,  and 
found  the  brethren,  as  Elder  Wolfe  says,  "in  a  tangled  and 
gloomy  condition,  but  after  laboring  with  them  from  house  to 
house,  for  nearly  two  weeks,  all  day  and  part  of  the  night,  with 
occasional  public  preaching,  hope  began  to  revive,  and  a  desire 
was  expressed  in  the  church  and  outside  in  favor  of  union  and 
fellowship." 

They  called  a  meeting  at  the  house  of  Brother  Philip  Balti- 
more, near  Lebanon,  Linn  County,  where  the  main  body  of  the 
Oregon  membership  resided  at  that  time.  The  meeting  was  held 
May  13,  1867,  when  the  following  memorable  document  was 
agreed  to  and  signed  : — 

Lebanon,  Linn  Co.,  Oregon,  May  13,  1867. 

We,  the  brethren  of  Oregon,  being  assembled  at  the  house  of 
Brother  Philip  Baltimore,  agree  : — 

First  :  In  order  that  we  may  have  a  union  and  practice  love  and 
affection  one  toward  another,  to  lay  aside  all  hardness,  past  acts, 
and  feelings,  forgiving  one  another  and  asking  forgiveness  of  all. 

Second:  We  promise  to  strive  in  the  future  to  cultivate 
brotherly  love  and  peace. 

Third:  We  agree  to  lay  aside  strivings  and  disputings  (as  we 
have  heretofore  done)  about  the  restitution,  the  devil,  the  judg- 
ment, the  resurrection,  and  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

Fourth  :  We  agree  that  we  will  not  provoke  one  another  on 
those  subjects. 

Fifth  :  And  whoever  oversteps  these  agreements,  we  will 
admonish  and  deal  with  them  according  to  the  Master's  directions 
in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew. 

Sixth,  and  lastly:  We  agree  to  be  subject  to  the  decisions  of 
the  brethren  in  the  yearly  meeting. 

Hereunto  we  subscribe  our  names. 

Signed  in  the  presence  of  us,  George  Wolfe  and  Henry  Haines. 

J.   Hardman,   Anna  Hardman,   J.   H.   Ritter,   Rachael   Ritter,. 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  185 

B.  Hardman,  Philip  Baltimore,  Mary  Baltimore,  Daniel  Leedy, 
Mary  Leedy,  David  Peebler,  M.  Hardman,  A.  J.  Wigle,  Mary 
M.  Wigle,  J.  W.  Hardman,  H.  Spurlock,  S.  R.  Peebler,  Catharine 
Barnard,  Peter  Zell,  Susan  Peebler,  Jacob  Wigle,  Nancy  Wigle, 
Solomon  Ritter,  Elizabeth  Ritter,  Samuel  Hardman,  Mary 
Hardman. 

Antedating  the  above  organization  we  have  a  sketch  of  the 
life  of  some  of  its  charter  members.  Jacob  W.  Wagner,  in  a 
letter  to  the  Gospel  Visitor,  dated  August  8,  1853,  says : — 

"My  parents  settled  in  Cape  Girardeau  County,  Missouri,  in 
early  days.  They  became  members  of  the  church  under  the  min- 
istry of  Elder  John  Hendricks.  I  was  born  in  that  county,  in 
1807.  My  father  removed  to  Illinois,  and  lived  under  the  care 
of  Elder  George  Wolfe,  who  was  my  mother's  brother.  I 
was  brought  up  under  religious  instruction  and  joined  the 
church  in  my  youth.  I  was  baptized  by  Elder  Wolfe  in  Sptem- 
ber,  1827.  I  traveled  much  with  Father  Wolfe,  visiting  the 
churches. 

"In  the  spring  of  1852  I  and  two  of  my  brothers  set  out  for 
Oregon  Territory.  We  were  told  before  starting  that  in  cross- 
ing the  plains  we  might  be  required  to  deny  our  faith  by  travel- 
ing in  a  military  form  and  under  military  protection,  which,  how- 
ever, we  did  not  find  necessary,  as  the  Indians  were  friendly 
toward  us. 

"We  live  eighty  miles  above  Oregon  City,  seven  miles  above 
Calapoosa,  on  the  east  side  of  Willamette  Valley.  There  are 
seven  of  us,  three  brothers  and  four  sisters.  Three  others  crossed 
the  plains  with  us,  but  settled  a  hundred  miles  from  us.  The 
church  elected  me  deacon,  which  is  the  only  church  officer  among 
us. 

In  his  remarks  to  the  above  the  editor  of  the  Visitor  says : — 

"There  is  one  other  subscriber  to  the  Visitor  in  Oregon.  His 
address  is  David  Peebler,  Salem,  Marion  County." 


1 86  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

PHILADELPHIA,   PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  subscribers  and  contributors  for  purchasing  a  lot  on  which 
to  build  a  church  held  their  first  meeting  March  19,  1817. 
Nearly  five  thousand  dollars  had  been  subscribed.  At  that  meet- 
ing James  Lynd,  George  Gorgas,  Jacob  Ziegler,  James  Gorgas, 
and  John  Rink  were  appointed  to  procure  a  lot  of  ground. 
March  24,  the  committee  reported  that  they  had  purchased  a  lot 
on  Crown  Street  below  Callowhill,  seventy-five  by  eighty-six  feet, 
for  four  thousand  dollars.  •  A  building  committee  was  then 
appointed,  and  held  its  first  meeting  April  11,  181 7.  The  Crown 
Street  meeting-house  was  built,  and  was  dedicated  October  12, 
181 7.     Brother  Peter  Keyset  was  their  minister. 

Election  of  Ministers. — I  have  no  date  for  the  election  of 
James  Lynd  and  John  Heisler.  Timothy  Banger  was  elected 
April  24,  1824;  John  Righter  elected  November  18,  1841  ;  John 
Fox  elected  September  28,  1844,  and  ordained  bishop  November 
16,  1867;  Christian,  Custer  elected  December  24,  1861.  All  the 
above  ministers  preached  in  the  old  Crown  Street  church. 

Deacons  Elected. — Peter  K.  Gorgas  and  John  Fox,  July  13, 
1842;  John  Goodyear  and  Christian  Custer,  February  23,  1850; 
John  Fry  and  Isaiah  G.  Harley,  January  31,  1863. 

The  Crown  Street  church  was  sold  September,  1872,  and  the 
lot  bought  on  Marshall  Street  below  Girard  Avenue  in  the  same 
month.  The  building  was  thereon  erected  for  the  worship  of 
God.  The  Sunday-school  room  was  dedicated  July  13,  1873. 
The  main  church  room  was  dedicated  the  second  Sunday  in  Sep- 
tember, same  year.  Brother  Isaac  Price  preached  the  sermon 
that  day.  The  building  was  sold  in  March,  1890,  and  ground 
bought  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Dauphin  and  Carlisle  Streets, 
in  June,  1890.     The  church  building  was  erected  in  1891. 

I.  G.  Harley,  Secretary. 

The  church,  corner  of  Carlisle  and  Dauphin  Streets,  was  dedi- 
cated May  3,  1 89 1.  With  that  date  my  ministry  began  in  this 
church.     In  the  fall  of  1892  Sister  Mary  S.  Geiger  built  a  splen- 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  1 87 

did  Sunday-school-room  addition  to  the  church,  and  presented 
it  as  a  free  gift  to  the  church.  In  1896  we  started  a  mission 
Sunday-school  at  Twenty-sixth  Street  and  Lehigh  Avenue.  The 
expenses  of  the  work  at  this  place  were  and  are  now  entirely 
borne  by  Sister  Geiger.  In  1898  she  purchased  a  lot  at  the  above 
corner,  built  a  splendid  chapel  and  parsonage,  and  presented  the 
entire  property  to  the  church.  Brother  J.  W.  Cline  is  the  min- 
ister in  charge  at  that  place.  The  Sunday-school  is  large  and 
active.  This  work  is  under  the  care  of  the  main  first  church. 
The  Philadelphia  church  has  at  present  about  three  hundred 
members.  More  than  two  hundred  have  been  baptized  in  the 
past  eight  years.  The  church  is  very  active  in  all  missionary, 
benevolent,  and  charity  work.  T.  T.  Myers. 

PANTHER    CREEK    CHURCH,    ILLINOIS. 

The  first  brethren  that  visited  Woodford  County,  Illinois,  to 
preach,  were  Daniel  Martin,  Jacob  Negley,  and  D.  Zuck,  of  Ful- 
ton County,  all  formerly  from  Pennsylvania.  Brother  Daniel 
Martin  preached  the  first  sermon,  June  27,  1852.  On  that  day 
eight  of  us  came  to  the  meeting  with  the  purpose  of  uniting  with 
the  church.  This  was  the  first  meeting  ever  held  by  the  brethren 
in  the  county  known  to  us.  There  were  four  men  and  their 
wives.  There  were  six  members  here  that  had  moved  from 
Roanoke  County,  Virginia,  at  the  time  of  the  first  meeting.  The 
brethren  came  back  again  the  following  October,  when  four  more 
were  baptized.  They  organized  a  church  on  the  23d  of  October, 
1852.  Two  brethren  were  elected  to  the  ministry,  George  W. 
and  James  R.  Gish.  Since  that  time  we  have  had  regular  meet- 
ings, but  not  without  our  tips  and  downs.  After  dividing  twice, 
we  still  have  over  one  hundred  members,  six  ministers,  and  four 
deacons.  We  are  still  trying  to  do  as  well  as  we  can  in  the  Mas- 
ter's cause,  endeavoring  to  keep  close  to  the  gospel  and  ancient 
landmarks.  James  R.  Gish. 

Roanoke,  III,  18//. 


i88 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


SHARPSBURG,     MARYLAND. 

The  town  of  Sharpsburg  is  situated  in  Washington  County, 
Maryland,  twelve  miles  south  of  Hagerstown,  and  about  an  equal 
distance  north  of  Harper's  Ferry.  It  is  an  historic  town,  noted 
chiefly  for  the  bloody  but  indecisive  battle  fought  in  its  suburbs 
and  along  the  banks  of  Antietam  Creek,  September  17,  1862. 
A  national  cemetery  at  the  eastern  end  of  town  contains  the  mor- 
tal remains  of  4,667  Union  soldiers.  While  probably  an  equal 
number  of  the  opposing  army  fell  victims  to  the  cruel  war,  a 
much  larger  number  were  wounded,  some  of  whom  died  subse- 
quently, and  others  were  maimed  for  life. 


SHARPSBURG     CHURCH     AFTER    THE     WAR 


It  is  conceded  that  more  men  were  slain  in  a  given  time  in  this 
engagement  than  during  any  other  battle  during  the  war.  Large 
shafts  and  monuments,  numerous  tablets,  and  silent  artillery 
mark  the  places  of  the  severest  engagements.  Other  points  of 
historic  interest  are  "Burnside's  Bridge,"  across  Antietam, 
"Bloody  Lane,"  and  the  "Tunker  Church."  This  meeting-house 
is  in  the  Manor  congregation,  is  situated  one  mile  north  of  town, 
and  was  built  in  1853.  It  stood  within  the  lines  of  battle,  and  was 
partly  demolished  by  the  batteries  of  both  armies. 

After  the  battle  it  was  used  as  a  hospital  for  both  the  "blue" 
and  the  "gray,"  and  is  a  silent  witness  of  human  carnage  and 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  189 

inhuman  warfare.  The  building  was  repaired  in  1864.  The 
War  Department  proposed  to  purchase  the  house  and  preserve  it 
as  a  relic  of  the  bloody  event.  The  offer,  however,  was  declined 
by  the  congregation,  believing  it  would  serve  a  better  purpose  by 
using  it  as  a  place  in  which  to  worship  the  Prince  of  Peace  and 
teach  the  doctrine  of  love  and  good-will.  A  tablet  has  been 
placed  on  the  outer  wall,  to  the  right  of  the  door,  by  the  govern- 
ment, which  gives  a  brief  history  of  the  meeting-house  and  its 
connection  with  this  battle. 

The  central  meeting-house  of  the  congregation,  known  as  the 
Manor  church,  was  built  in  1832  by  John  Weaver  and  Peter 
Shamel.     The  annual  conference  of  1857  was  held  in  this  house. 

Previous  to  the  building  of  the  Manor  house,  this  territory  was 
a  part  of  the  Beaver  Creek  church.  Up  to  1897  the  bishops  in 
this  territory  were,  Joseph  Emmert,  Jacob,  Emmanuel,  and  Isaac 
Long,  and  David  Reichard.  Brother  Emmert  was  an  uncle  of 
Elder  Joseph  Emmert,  of  Arnold's  Grove,  Illinois,  who  was  the 
grandfather  of  Mary  Stover,  of  India.  He  preached  mostly  in 
the  German  language.  These  faithful  standard-bearers  had  all 
gone  to  rest  before  the  roar  of  cannon  resounded  within  the  walls 
of  this  hallowed  sanctuary. 

Samuel  Mumma  donated  the  church  lot,  whereon  the  Sharps- 
burg  house  was  built  in  1852  or  '53.  He  was  born  in  1801.  He 
was  living  within  the  lines  of  battle  at  the  time  of  this  engage- 
ment. His  dwelling-house,  barn,  and  nearly  every  building,  with 
most  of  their  contents,  were  laid  in  ashes  during  the  battle,  leav- 
ing scarcely  a  change  of  raiment  for  his  family. 

Elders  Jacob  Hibarger  and  David  Long  were  next  placed  in 
charge  of  the  flock.  Elder  Long  was  well  known  in  the  brother- 
hood, having  served  frequently  on  the  standing  committee  of  the 
annual  meeting  and  other  important  committees.  He  reared  a 
large  family.  Four  of  his  sons,  Joseph,  Victor,  Orville,  and 
Walter,  and  three  of  his  sons-in-law,  Eli  Yourtee,  Seth  Myers, 
and  E.  D.  Kendig,  are  ministers. 

During  the  war  the  Manor  congregation  numbered  between 
three  and  four  hundred  members.     It  now  numbers  two  hundred 


IQO  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

and  forty.  Many  have  removed  to  other  localities,  and  the 
Hagerstown  congregation  has  taken  a  part  of  their  territory  and 
membership. 

SPRING     RUN,     PENNSYLVANIA.* 

This  church  is  a  part  of  the  old  church,  which,  about  fifty  years 
ago,  was  mostly  known  by  the  name  of  Kishacoquilas,  and  later 
by  the  name  of  Lewistown.  In  1857  it  was  divided,  and  the 
western  portion  called  Spring  Run.  The  eastern  portion  is 
known  by  the  name  of  Dry  Valley. 

The  Lewistown  congregation  was  presided  over  for  many 
years  by  Joseph  Rothrock,  who  resided  near  Lewistown,  and 
later  by  his  son  Abraham,  who  subsequently  emigrated  to  Kan- 
sas and  died  there.  About  185 1  Joseph  R.  Hanawalt  was 
ordained  to  the  bishopric  of  the  church  until  it  was  divided,  and 
over  both  churches  for  several  years,  until  Jacob  Mohler  was 
ordained  to  the  bishop's  office.  The  first  minister  that  lived  in 
the  territory  of  the  Spring  Run  church  was  Jacob  Kinsel,  who 
died  near  McVeytown.  About  the  same  time  John  Hanawalt 
resided  near  Newton  Hamilton,  but  his  residence  was  in  the 
Aughwick  church. 

The  next  resident  minister  in  the  limits  of  Spring  Run  was 
Joseph  R.  Hanawalt,  who  died  in  February,  1877.  At  that  time 
the  ministerial  board  consisted  of  Peter  S.  Meyers,  George  Hana- 
walt, Abram  Myers,  Samuel  Musser,  George  H.  Swigart,  John 
S.  Hanawalt,  and  William  J.  Swigart.  There  was  a  branch  of 
this  congregation  called  Stone  Valley,  in  charge  of  Archy  Van 
Dyke.  The  meeting-house  where  the  love-feasts  are  held  is  at 
Spring  Run,  about  two  miles  from  McVeytown  station,  and  was 
built  in  1856.  The  whole  number  of  members  at  present  (1877) 
is  near  three  hundred  and  fifty.  In  1858  the  number  was  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty.  The  increase  by  baptism  has  been 
about  thirty  per  annum,  and  seems  regular  and  substantial.  .  The 
young  people  are  nearly  all  members  of  the  church,  from  ten 
years  upward,  and  many  of  them  are  quite  intelligent  and  talented. 

^Contributed  by  George  Hanawalt  in  1877. 


I     s 


192  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

The  ministers  are  generally  gifted,  and  have  their  labors  reduced 
to  a  perfect  system.  There  is  regular  preaching  at  over  twenty 
different  points. 


SOUTHWEST     MISSOURI. 

Walnut  Creek  Church  is  located  in  the  northeastern  part  of 
Johnson  County,  about  four  miles  north  of  Knobnoster,  on  the 
Missouri  Pacific  Railroad.  It  is  the  oldest  church  in  southwest 
Missouri.  It  passed  through  a  severe  trial  during  the  war.  It 
was  under  the  care  of  Elder  Joseph  Wampler,  and  seemed  to 
prosper  till  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  when  dark  clouds  threat- 
ened its  prosperity,  but  of  late  years  those  clouds  have  passed 
away.  In  1880  it  was  under  the  care  of  Andrew  Hutchison. 
They  had  a  good  church  house  in  which  to  worship,  and  num- 
bered about  forty  members. 

Center  View  church  is  located  in  the  central  part  of  Johnson 
County,  around  the  village  of  Center  View,  on  the  line  of  the 
Missouri  Pacific  Railroad.  It  was  organized  in  1870,  and  in 
1880  was  under  the  care  of  Elder  Andrew  Hutchison,  who  was 
assisted  in  the  ministry  by  Elder  Alexander  W.  Reece.  They 
numbered  about  fifty  members,  and  had  a  good  church. 

Mineral  Creek  church  is  located  in  the  southern  part  of  John- 
ison  County,  and  embraces  also  the  northern  part  of  Henry 
County.  As  a  church  district  it  is  large,  and  has  a  membership 
of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty.  It  was  organized  about  i860. 
A  number  have  since  moved  in,  and  others  have  united  by  bap- 
tism. S.  S.  Mohler,  elder ;  assistant  ministers,  J.  M.  Mohler  and 
!F.  Culp.  It  is  distant  from  Warrensburg  (south)  about  twelve 
miles.     They  have  a  commodious  church  house. 

Holden  church  is  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Johnson  County, 
eight  miles  south  of  Holden.  It  was  organized  in  1879,  with  a 
Ismail  membership  and  two  deacons,  but  no  resident  minister. 
'The  church  was  placed  under  the  care  of  Elder  J.  S.  Mohler. 

Grand  River  church  is  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Henry 
Countv,  south  of  La  Due  'about  three  miles.     It  was  organized 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  193 

about  1 87 1,  with  a  membership  of  about  twenty.  In  1880  it  num- 
bered about  seventy,  under  the  care  of  Elder  J.  S.  Mohler  and 
J.  C.  Mays.     They  have  a  good  church  house. 

The  Mound  church  is  in  the  northern  part  of  Bates  County, 
at  Crescent  Hill.  It  was  organized  in  1878,  with  a  membership 
of  about  twenty,  and  was  placed  under  the  care  of  Elder  D.  L. 
Williams. 

Murrow  Creek  church  is  in  Morgan  County,  about  twelve  miles 
south  of  Tipton,  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad.  It  was  organ- 
ized about  1874,  with  a  membership  of  about  thirty.  It  was 
under  the  care  of  Elder  D.  Bowman. 

Clear  Creek  church  is  in  Saline  County.  It  was  organized 
about  1875,  and  under  the  care  of  Elder  D.  B.  Williams. 

Brush  Creek  church  is  in  St.  Clair  County,  and  was  organized 
soon  after  the  war,  and  was  placed  under  the  care  of  Elder  Jacob 
Ullery.  After  his  leaving,  it  was  placed  under  the  eldership  of 
Brother  John  Ullery.  He  also  moved  away,  leaving  the  church 
in  the  hands  of  Elder  Lair.  It  was  about  three  miles  south  of 
Osceola. 

Nevada  church  is  in  Vernon  County,  in  the  vicinity  of  Nevada. 
It  was  organized  about  1870,  and  was  under  the  care  of  Elder 
S.  Click,  assisted  in  the  ministry  by  Brother  Wine. 

Cedar  County  church  is  located  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
Cedar  County.  It  was  organized  about  1888,  and  under  the  care 
of  Elder  S.  Click,  assisted  in  the  ministry  by  Brother  Thomas 
Allen. 

Spring  River  church  is  in  Jasper  County,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Carthage.  It  was  organized  in  1872,  and  was  placed  under  the 
care  of  Elder  Addison  Baker.  Since  his  death  it  was  under  the 
care  of  Elder  George  Barnhart,  assisted  in  the  ministry  by 
William  Harvey  and  S.  Garber.  In  1878  there  was  a  member- 
ship of  about  sixty. 

Shoal  Creek  church  is  in  Newton  County,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Newtonia,  and  was  organized  about  1872,  having  a  membership 
of  about  seventy-five.  It  was  presided  over  by  Elders  C.  Harader 
and  G.  Barnhart,  assisted  by  Brother  William  Hubbard.     It  was 

J3 


194  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

in  this  church  that  J.  W.  Stein  identified  himself  with  the 
church.     They  have  a  commodious  house  in  which  to  worship. 

Texas  County  church  is  located  in  Texas  County.  It  was 
organized  in  1879,  and  cared  for  by  Elders  Harader  and  Barn- 
hart,  and  is  the  result  of  missionary  effort  on  the  part  of  those 
elders. 

The  churches  of  southwest  Missouri  are  generally  in  a  pros- 
perous condition. 

SOUTH     WATERLOO,     IOWA. 

The  South  Waterloo  church  was  organized  in  April,  1856,  with 
twelve  members.  Among  these  were  John  Spicher  and  wife, 
Matthias  Miller  and  wife,  John  Dull  and  wife,  John  Berkley,  and 
John  Myers.  John  Filmore  was  chosen  first  pastor,  and  John 
Spicher  was  elected  soon  after.  Meetings  were  held  in  the 
neighboring  schoolhouses,  in  the  country,  and  in  the  halls  in  town 
until  1868,  when  the  church  had  grown  numerically  strong  enough 
to  build  a  house  of  worship  when  the  Orange  church  was  erected. 
It  is  40x80  feet  in  size,  and  cost  about  $5,000.  The  house  in  the 
city  of  Waterloo  is  located  on  the  corner  of  South  and  Seventh 
Streets,  and  was  built  in  1878.  It  is  30x48,  feet,  and  cost  about 
$1,200. 

The  following  persons  were  called  to  the  ministry  in  the  South 
Waterloo  congregation :  John  Filmore,  Joseph  Ogg,  John  Spicher, 
S.  M.  Miller,  S.  H.  Miller,  C.  Asquith,  L.  R.  Peiffer,  Martin 
Beeghly,  John  Snyder,  W.  H.  Liclity,  H.  F.  Maust,  E.  B.  Hoff, 
A.  P.  Blough,  L.  W.  Eikenberry,  n'  J.  Miller,  J.  H.  Fike,  J.  B. 
Spicher,  W.  O.  Tannreuther. 

The  following  moved  into  the  district :  Jesse  Myers,  Henry 
Gochenour,  Jacob  Hauger,  E.  K.  Buechley,  Jacob  A.  Murray, 
A.  B.  Hochstetler,  Tobias  Musser,  and  Benjamin  Buechley. 

Of  this  church  the  Waterloo  Courier  says  :  "There  are  many 
interesting  spots  in  Black  Hawk  County,  and  one  of  no  small 
importance  is  the  Tunker  settlement  south  of  Waterloo.  In  the 
midst  of  this  community,  and  at  its  most  interesting  point,  stands 
their  meeting-house,  the  largest  country  church  in  Iowa,  known 
as  the  old  Tunker  Church  of  Orange. 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS. 


195 


"To  many  a  visitor  who  goes  to  this  place  for  the  first  time 
there  naturally  comes  the  thought  that  he  has  been  transported 
back  to  the  times  of  the  early  church,  so  devout  and  utterly  devoid 
of  any  semblance  of  ostentation  are  the  people  and  their  sur- 
roundings. It  is  a  picture  of  a  people  whose  object  in  life  seems 
to  be  to  live  in  perfect  harmony  with  themselves  and  the  rest  of 
the  world,  and  at  the  same  time  uphold  the  teachings  of  Christ  as 
they  recognize  them. 

"The  church  has  two  entrances,  one  for  the  women  and  the  other 


SOUTH  WATERLOO,   IOWA 


for  the  men.  At  the  ends  of  the  room  facing  the  center  are  sev- 
eral rows  of  plain  wooden  seats,  while  those  in  front  of  the 
pulpit — which  is  located  at  the  side  of  the  room  directly  opposite 
the  entrances — face  the  platform.  An  aisle  running  through  the 
center  divides  the  room  into  two  parts,  one  of  which  is  occupied 
by  the  men,  the  other  by  the  women.  The  room  will  seat  upwards 
of  eight  hundred  people.  The  ministers  occupy  the  piatform  dur- 
ing the  service,  each  taking  a  part.  The  singing  is  entirely  con- 
gregational.    On  Sabbath  morning  Sunday-school  is  held;   then 


I96  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

follows  the  preaching  service.  The  young  people's  society  holds 
a  meeting  in  the  early  evening,  and  preaching  services  are  held 
again  during  the  hour  following. 

"It  is  a  custom  among  the  Tunkers  to  attire  themselves  in  a 
peculiar  style  of  dress.  The  men  ordinarily  wear  a  full  beard, 
without  a  mustache.  The  clothing  of  both  sexei  is  entirely 
plain.  Broad-brimmed  hats  predominate  among  the  men,  while 
the  ladies  have  a  plain  bonnet  extending  beyond  the  face.  It  is 
a  custom  for  the  men  on  meeting  to  extend  the  hand  and  salute 
with  a  kiss.     This  rule  is  also  observed  among  the  women. 

"This  church  has  the  honor,  and  we  believe  the  pleasure  also,  of 
entertaining  the  first  annual  meeting  held  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  that  of  1870.  The  congregation  now  numbers  upward  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty  members." 

SOUTHERN    CALIFORNIA. 

In  the  year  1884  J.  S.  Flory,  M.  Hasdel,  and  P.  S.  Myers  made 
a  tour  through  Arizona  and  California,  for  the  purpose  of  select- 
ing a  suitable  location  for  a  colony  of  brethren.  After  thorough 
investigation  they  decided  upon  a  tract  of  two  thousand  acres 
twenty-five  miles  east  of  Los  Angeles  City.  They  projected  a 
town  which  was  named  Los  Covinas,  afterwards  changed  to 
Covina.  Arrangements  were  soon  made  for  subdivision  of  the 
land  in  ten-acre  blocks,  and  settlement  commenced. 

A  number  of  brethren  with  their  families  soon  located  there. 
At  that  time  there  were  but  two  members  in  southern  California. 
Meetings  were  opened  in  a  hall  near  the  colony.  P.  S.  Myers 
settled  at  Ontario,  ten  miles  east  of  Covina,  with  some  other 
members,  and  held  meetings  there  in  a  hall  for  some  time. 

June  20,  1885,  an  organization  was  effected  at  Covina,  with 
eighteen  members  and  two  elders,  J.  S.  Flory  and  A.  F.  Deeter, 
one  minister  in  the  second  degree,  no  deacons.  A  meeting-house 
was  built  near  Covina,  in  1886,  named  Southern  California  church. 
The  name  was  changed  to  Covina  church  in  1889.  Number  of 
members  now  enrolled,  one  hundred  and  ninety-four.  The  next 
organization   was   in  Ventura  County,  January   5,    T889.     Their 


I9#  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

church  is  now  disbanded  through  removals.  Lordsburg  church, 
thirty  miles  east  of  Los  Angeles,  was  organized  Nov.  I,  1890. 
John  Metzger  and  John  W.  Metzger,  elders.  Number  now,  some 
seventy  or  eighty  members. 

Tropico,  five  miles  north  of  Los  Angeles,  was  organized  Aug. 
15,  189 1  ;  J.  S.  Flory  in  charge.  A  neat  little  meeting-house  was 
built  at  that  place.  Brother  Reuben  Wolf  and  others  were  the 
active  members  there. 

In  1892  P.  S.  Myers  settled  in  the  city  of  Los  Angeles,  and  con- 
ducted services  in  a  hall,  assisted  by  S.  G.  Lehmer. 

In  1896  the  name  of  the  Tropico  church  was  changed  to  First 
Los  Angeles  church,  and  measures  set  on  foot  to  build  a  house 
of  worship.  Elder  P.  S.  Myers  had  published  a  lithographic 
chart  representing  the  world  in  its  struggle  for  higher  life.  He 
made  an  extensive  tcur  through  the  eastern  churches,  selling  the 
chart  and  donating  the  proceeds  to  purchasing  the  lots  on  which 
now  stands  one  of  the  most  modern  and  convenient  church  houses 
in  the  brotherhood,  P.  S.  Myers  designer  and  builder.  The 
whole,  complete,  cost  $3,200 ;  membership,  sixty. 

San  Jacinto  came  next  in  order  of  organization.  Isaac  Gibble 
is  the  elder. 

Englewood  organization,  J.  W.  Thomas ;  then  Colton,  which  is 
under  the  mission  board. 

A  mission  is  also  conducted  in  West  Los  Angeles  by  S.  W. 
Funk,  under  the  mission  board. 

Solomon's  creek,  Indiana. 

In  the  year  1856  the  Solomon's  Creek  church  was  organized, 
with  Frederick  P.  Loehr  and  Martin  Weybright  ministers,  and 
Jacob  Arnold,  John  Weybright,  Joel  Rush,  and  Levi  Wyland 
deacons.  In  the  year  1858  Daniel  Shively  was  chosen  to  the 
ministry,  and  F.  P.  Loehr  was  ordained  elder. 

The  meetings  were  held  in  barns,  schoolhouses,  and  dwellings 
until  the  year  1864,  when  they  built  one  of  the  largest  meeting- 
houses in  northern  Indiana.     This  was  during  the  Civil  War, 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  199 

when  drafts  were  frequent.  Commutation  money,  in  connection 
with  the  expense  of  building  a  house  of  worship,  taxed  the 
brethren  very  heavily.  Just  about  the  time  the  house  was  com- 
pleted, in  the  year  1864,  Martin  Weybright  died,  never  having 
been  permitted  to  worship  in  the  new  meeting-house ;  and  early 
in  the  year  1865  F.  P.  Loehr  moved  to  Michigan.  In  June,  1866, 
George  W.  Cripe  was  chosen  minister.  In  1867  Joseph  Hard- 
man  and  George  Domer  moved  in,  and  in  1868  Lewis  Muntz  was 
chosen  to  the  ministry.  The  same  year  George  W.  Cripe  moved 
into  another  district.  In  1869  Jesse  Calvert  was  received  by  let- 
ter, and  in  1 87 1  Joseph  Hardman  moved  away,  and  Joseph  Hart- 
sough  was  received  by  letter.  In  1872  Abraham  L.  Neff  was 
chosen  to  the  ministry,  and  in  1873  George  Domer  moved  away, 
and  Davis  Younce  moved  into  the  district.  In  1875  Jesse  Cal- 
vert, and  in  1876  Joseph  Hartsough,  moved  away,  so  that,  in  1877, 
the  ministers  were  Daniel  Shively,  Lewis  Muntz,  A.  L.  Neff, 
and  Davis  Younce.  In  1877  twelve  ministers  and  twenty-one 
deacons  had  served  in  the  church  since  its  organization. 

TENNESSEE. 

The  first  Tunkers  of  Tennessee  were  emigrants  from  Virginia. 
As  early  as  1799  the  Shanks  and  Simmons  families,  of  Greenbrier 
County,  Virginia,  settled  in  what  is  now  Hawkins  County,  Ten- 
nessee. The  former  located  on  the  Holston,  the  latter  on  Big 
Creek.  Christ  Simmons  was  a  minister  among  them,  but  died 
soon  after  the  settlement  was  made,  and  the  membership  was  left 
without  organization. 

Michael  Krous,  from  Shenandoah  County,  emigrated  to  Wash- 
ington County,  Tennessee,  as  early  as  1799.  He  located  on  Knob 
Creek  in  1801. 

The  Bowman  families  came  from  Franklin  County,  Virginia, 
in  1801,  some  of  them  settling  on  Knob  Creek,  and  others,  later, 
on  Boone's  Creek.  One  member  of  this  family  had  settled  here 
some  years  earlier,  but  about  the  year  1797,  he  moved  into  the 
mountainous  wilderness  of  the  adjoining  state  of  North  Carolina. 
He  and  his  companions  were  the  first  members  of  the  church  in 
Yancey  County,  where  they  located. 


200  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

The  church  was  regularly  organized  by  Elder  Samuel  Garber, 
of  Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  very  early  in  the  century.  He 
preached  the  doctrines  of  the  church  here  while  the  country  was 
but  sparsely  settled  and  much  of  it  a  wilderness.  Traveling  on 
horseback  a  distance  of  three  hundred  miles  or  more  from  his 
home  in  Virginia,  he  is  known  to  have  visited  the  country  as  often 
as  three  different  times.  He  was  the  first  of  the  brethren  who 
preached  in  Tennessee. 

The  first  resident  Tunker  minister  was  Isaac  Hammer.  His 
connection  with  the  church  was  of  short  duration,  on  account  of 
heterodox  views. 

From  the  time  of  the  organization  up  to  1834,  the  chief  minis- 
terial force  of  the  church  was  Daniel  Bowman,  English,  and 
Michael  Krous,  German.  David  Molsbee,  of  Hawkins  County, 
on  the  organization  of  the  church  there,  in  1824,  was  added  to 
the  ministry. 

The  first  communion  service  after  the  organization  of  the 
church  in  Washington  County,  was  held  in  a  private  house,  in  the 
gap  of  the  ridge  between  Knob  Creek  and  Boones  Creek.  Only 
five  members  engaged  in  the  service. 

The  membership  remained  small  up  to  1833,  when  the  Garber, 
Nead,  Miller,  and  Lair  families,  seven  families  in  all,  emigrated 
from  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and  settled  in  Washington  County, 
making  quite  an  accession  to  the  church. 

In  1834  Samuel  Garber  and  John  Nead  were  added  to  the  min- 
istry, and  about  the  year  1841  John  A.  Bowman,  of  Sullivan 
County,  and  Benjamin  Byerly,  of  Limestone,  Washington  County, 
were  added  to  the  ministerial  force.  Solomon  Garber,  Sr.,  and 
Solomon  Garber,  Jr.,  had  been  preaching  some  time  before  this 
date. 

In  1844  a  church  was  organized  in  Yancey  County,  North 
Carolina,  with  Henry  Masters,  and  later,  Peter  Peterson,  as  min- 
isters. Pleasant  Hill,  Sullivan  County,  and  Limestone  church, 
Washington  County,  were  separated  from  the  Knob  Creek 
church,  as  distinct  organizations,  about  the  year  1846.  Other 
organizations   followed,  and  have  multiplied  until,   in  the  year 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  201 

1890,  there  were  twenty-eight  churches,  sixty-six  ministers,  and 
a  membership  cf  1,700. 

Houses  of  worship  were  erected  on  Knob  Creek,  in  1834,  on 
Limestone,  185 1  ;  at  Pleasant  Hill,  Sullivan  County,  18—;  Cedar 
Grove,  Hawkins  County,  1858;  Pleasant  Valley,  1858;  Cherokee 
or  Pleasant  View,  1S58  or  '59,  and  again  in  1877;  Whitehorn, 
1864  or  '65 ;  others,  later. 

The  above  historical  sketch  is  taken  from  an  article  by  M.  Nead, 
published  in  Brethren's  Almanac,  1890. 

WESTERN     PENNSYLVANIA. 

In  the  spring  of  1783  a  young  Tunker  deacon  by  the  name  of 
John  Keagey,  emigrated  from  York  County,  Pennsylvania,  to  the 
back-woods  of  Bedford  County,  into  the  valley  lying  between  the 
Alleghany  and  Negro  Mountains,  and  located  at  a  point  about 
thirteen  miles  south  of  the  ancient  village  of  Berlin.  At  the  time 
of  his  arrival  there  were  living  in  the  vicinity  a  few  scattered 
members  of  the  same  denomination.  One  of  those  was  John 
Burger,  who  lived  on  the  farm  now  known  as  the  Buechley  estate. 
In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  some  ministering  brethren  from  the 
east  visited  Brother  Keagey,  hunted  up  the  other  members  in  the 
valley,  and  held  a  love-feast  at  the  house  of  John  Burger,  and 
organized  the  little  band  into  a  church.  Keagey  was  promoted 
to  the  ministry,  and  another  brother  was  elected  deacon.  This 
was  the  first  communion  meeting  held  by  the  Tunkers  west  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains. 

Peter  Livengood,  John  Olinger,  Michael  Buechley,  and  Chris- 
tian Hochstetler,  all  of  them  members  of  the  Amish  church,  had 
preceded  Keagey.  The  four  families  soon  after  united  with  the 
Tunkers,  and  Livengood,  Buechley,  and  Hochstetler  were  called 
to  the  ministry.  From  this  time  onward  the  church  grew 
rapidly,  extending  her  borders  southward  into  Maryland  and 
across  the  neck  into  western  Virginia,  and  northward  to  the 
Conemaugh.  Some  time  afterward  a  separate  church  was  organ- 
ized on  the  south,  called  Sandy  Creek ;  and,  later  on,  Conemaugh 
was  struck  off  into  a  separate  church.     Keagey  was  ordained 


202  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

bishop  about  the  year  1790,  and  in  the  fall  of  1806  he  emigrated 
to  the  vicinity  of  Dayton,  Ohio.  Michael  Meyer,  who  had  emi- 
grated from  Lebanon  County  in  his  youth,  was  ordained  to  take 
the  place  of  Elder  Keagey,  and  was,  consequently,  the  second 
elder  living  in  this  valley.  He  presided  over  an  extensive  mem- 
bership for  thirty  years.  He  died  in  the  spring  of  1836.  In  the 
fall  of  the  same  year  Peter  Cover  and  John  Forney  were  ordained. 
Forney  died  in  1847,  and  Jacob  Meyer,  son  of  Elder  Michael 
Meyer,  was  ordained  to  the  eldership. 

By  the  year  1849  the  membership  had  become  so  numerous 
and  the  territory  occupied  so  extensive,  that  it  was  deemed  pru- 
dent to  divide  again.  A  general  meeting  was  called  for  the 
purpose  of  deciding  on  the  territory  and  boundaries.  It  was 
determined  to  divide  into  six  churches,  namely :  Brothers'  Valley, 
Ouemahoning,  Middle  Creek,  Elklick,  Bear  Creek  Cove,  and  Shade 
Mills.  The  latter  two  were  in  Alleghany  County,  Maryland. 
Peter  Cover  and  Jacob  Meyer,  bishops  of  the  Brothers'  Valley 
church,  were  given  charge  of  Quemahoning  and  Middle  Creek 
churches ;  John  Berkley  and  Jacob  Lichty  were  ordained  elders  of 
the  Elklick  church,  and  given  the  oversight  of  the  two  Maryland 
churches.  A  few  years  after  the  above  work,  Jacob  S.  Hauger 
was  ordained  bishop  of  the  Middle  Creek,  and  Christian  Smucker 
of  the  Ouemahoning  church. 

The  farm  occupied  by  John  Burger  at  the  time  of  the  organi- 
zation above  referred  to,  is  now  covered  by  the  beautiful  town 
of  Meyersdale,  and  contains  two  Tunker  Churches — one  Con- 
servative and  one  Progressive — and  more  members  to  the  square 
acre  than  any  other  territory  in  the  United  States. 

An  incident  occurred  in  a  part  of  the  territory  described  above, 
which  is  worth  recording.  The  Tunkers  were,  from  their  begin- 
ning, great  missionary  people  in  their  own  way.  Their  method 
was  peculiar  to  themselves.  They  called  it  visiting  neighboring 
churches,  and  in  olden  times  all.  the  churches  of  Pennsylvania 
constituted  the  neighborhood  or  mission  field.  It  was  quite  com- 
mon for  ministers  from  Franklin,  Cumberland,  and  other  eastern 
counties  to  visit,  once  a  year,  the  churches  beyond  the  Alleghany. 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  203 

During  one  of  these  mission  tours,  Elder  George  Price,  grand- 
father of  Elder  Isaac  Price,  and  others,  had  been  visiting  the 
church  in  the  Glades.  On  their  homeward  journey  they  found  it 
necessary  to  stop  at  a  hotel.  They  were  politely  informed  by  the 
landlord  that  the  house  was  promised  for  a  dance  that  night,  and 
he  feared  they  could  not  be  made  comfortable.  But  it  was  grow- 
ing late,  and  it  was  seven  miles  to  the  next  tavern,  where  the 
accommodations  were  not  so  good  for  man  or  beast.  They  seemed 
inclined  to  remain.  The  landlord  remarked  that  his  accommo- 
dations were  ample,  if  the  music  and  dancing  would  not  disturb 
them.  One  of  the  old  men  remarked  that  neither  the  music  nor 
dancing  would  keep  him  awake,  if  nothing  of  more  annoying 
kind  should  follow  ;  and  so  they  all  said. 

After  supper  the  landlord  came  to  their  room  and  stated  that 
the  leader  of  the  dancing  party  desired  to  see  them.  He  was 
invited  up,  and,  after  a  brief  interview,  he  requested  that  a  few  of 
his  friends  might  also  be  permitted  to  enjoy  their  company.  This 
was  readily  acceded  to,  and  after  a  number  had  collected  in  the 
room,  it  was  proposed  to  postpone  the  dance,  and  the  old  man 
was  invited  to  preach ;  and  preach  and  pray  they  did ;  but  further 
deponent  saith  not.  Eternity  may  reveal  the  results,  but  the  Lord 
has  declared  that  "bread  cast  upon  the  waters  shall  not  return  to 
Him  void ;"  and  from  the  numerous  crumbs  scattered  abroad 
by  the  pioneer  Tunker  preachers  a  wonderful  sentiment  has 
obtained,  and  a  numerous  membership  is  scattered  over  the  ter- 
ritory included  between  the  Alleghany  Mountains  and  the  Ohio 
River. 

WOLF     CREEK     CHURCH,    OHIO. 

The  Wolf  Creek  church  is  situated  in  the  northwestern  part  of 
Montgomery  County,  and  the  northeastern  part  of  Preble  County. 
This  district  is  about  ten  miles  wide  and  twelve  miles  long. 
Among  the  earliest  settlers  were  brethren  who  came  while  Ohio 
was  yet  a  territory.  The  Bersts,  Bakers,  Cripes,  Diehls,  Nise- 
wongers,  Shocks,  Ulricks,  and  Wogomans  were  prominent  among 
the  earliest  members  in  this  part  of  the  Miami  Valley. 


204  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

All  was  under  one  organization — the  Miami  church — until 
October  18,  1811,  when  a  committee  of  four  elders  from  the  east 
wras  called  to  settle  the  difficulties  in  which  the  officials  were 
largely  involved,  and  which  threatened  the  life  of  the  church  on 
the  Miami.  The  names  of  these  elders  were,  John  Garber,  Mar- 
tin Garber,  Jacob  Staley,  and  Frederic  Klein.  The  church  com- 
mitted everything  into  their  hands,  and  promised  to  abide  by 
their  decision.  The  trouble  was  investigated,  a  decision  made, 
full  satisfaction  rendered,  and  the  Miami  church  divided  into  four 
churches,  the  Wolk  Creek  church  being  the  northwestern  division. 
At  that  time  it  included  all  north  of  the  Dayton  and  Western 
road,  and  west  of  the  old  Stillwater  road,  an  unlimited  terri- 
tory, but  having  the  limited  number  of  about  twenty-five  members 
only.  It  was  under  the  care  of  Elder  Daniel  Cripe,  a  resident 
elder,  assisted  in  the  ministry  by  D.  Ulrich. 

The  meetings  were  held  in  the  houses  and  barns  of  the  mem- 
bers until  the  year  1837,  when  the  first  house  of  worship  was  built 
in  the  center  of  the  district.  It  was  called  the  Dutch  meeting 
by  the  neighbors,  as  all  the  services  were  conducted  in  the  Ger- 
man language  until  that  time,  and  mostly  for  ten  years  longer. 
The  German  language  has  not  been  used  much  since  1879. 

The  meeting-house  built  in  1837  was  enlarged  with  kitchen 
attachment  in  1856.  In  1870  this  was  superseded  by  building  the 
big  meeting-house  across  the  road.  In  1872  the  Eversole  meet- 
ing-house was  built  in  the  southern  part  of  the  congregation. 
In  1886  the  Wolf  Creek  and  the  Salem  districts  built  one  in 
.Arlington,  on  the  line  between  the  two  churches. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  ministers  of  the  Wolf  Creek 
church  to  1897.     Those  marked  with  a  star  were  elders. 

*Daniel  Cripe,  181 1-28;  Jacob  Shively,  1814-20;  D.  Ulrich, 
181 1-25;  *  Emanuel  Flory,  1820-30;  *Michael  Landis,  1822-33; 
*Samuel  Pfoutz,  1830-43;  *Christly  Arnold,  1834-55;  *  Abraham 
Erbaugh,  1840-72 ;  *Joel  Wogoman,  1844-78 ;  *  Samuel  Murray, 
1847-51  ;  *Samuel  Garber,  1852-81  ;  Samuel  Bock,  1855-65;  George 
Sala ;  Stephen  Miller ;  Ezra  Gilbert ;  John  Wrightsman ;  *Jacob 
Garber,   1870;  John  Kimmel,   1872-81;  Henry  Garber,   1879-81; 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     CONGREGATIONS.  205 

*Conrad  Brumbaugh,  1879-81;  Simon  Mikesell,  1880-82;  *John 
Calvin  Bright,  1881 ;  Samuel  Horning,  1882 ;  Geo.  Erbaugh,  1882. 
Of  the  above,  Brethren  Cripe,  Flory,  Murray,  Bock,  and  Sala 
moved  to  Indiana,  and  spent  years  of  service  in  the  Master's  cause. 

John  Arnold  was  elected  to  the  ministry  in  1832,  but  as  he  could 
not  read,  he  asked  to  be  excused,  and  said  he  was  willing  to  serve 
as  a  deacon.  This  was  granted  in  1834,  when  his  brother,  Squire 
C.  Arnold,  was  elected.  From  183 1,  for  several  years,  Elder 
David  Bowman,  Sr.,  of  the  Bear  Creek  church,  had  the  oversight 
of  Wolf  Creek. 

A  general  council  was  held  in  this  church  September  4  and  5, 
1840,  by  permission  of  the  annual  meeting  of  the  preceding  spring. 
In  1862  the  annual  meeting  was  held  at  the  place  of  the 
former  meeting,  on  the  old  Hay  farm,  with  Brother  Kline  as 
moderator,  and  Brethren  Savior  and  Quinter  as  clerks.  In 
December,  1880,  there  was  a  large  council  held  in  the  big  meet- 
ing-house, called  by  the  Miami  Valley  elders,  who  were  not  satis- 
fied with  the  disposition  made  of  their  petition  by  the  annual 
meeting  the  preceding  spring.  A  large  number  of  elders  from 
various  parts  of  the  brotherhood  were  present.  The  conserva- 
tive counsel  of  Brethren  D.  P.  Saylor,  James  Quinter,  R.  H. 
Miller,  Enoch  Eby,  and  others,  discomfited  those  who  were 
anxious  for  separating  for  the  time  being. 

This  church  suffered  considerably  from  divisions.  In  1831-33 
Elder  Michael  Landis,  with  some  ministers  of  adjoining  branches 
of  the  church,  caused  a  division.  The  principal  points  of  differ- 
ence were :  They  wanted  lamb  for  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  single 
mode  of  feet-washing  only,  and  a  greater  distinction  in  non- 
conformity in  dress.  They  prospered  for  some  years,  then 
became  divided  among  themselves,  and  have  been  on  the  decline. 
They  never  erected  houses  for  worship.  They  were  put  in 
avoidance  and  released  therefrom  by  their  own  request. 

The  later  falling  away  was  the  Old  Order  Brethren,  from  which 
nearly  all  the  churches  of  the  Miami  Valley  suffered.  The  author 
of  the  petition  of  1880  and  the  resolutions  of  1881  was  a  prom- 
inent and  influential  elder  of  this  district,  and  with  him  went  one 


206 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


elder,  two  ministers  in  the  second  degree,  and  three  deacons,  with 
a  total  of  one  hundred  and  forty  members.  The  loss  was  greater 
than  that  of  any  other  church  in  the  brotherhood.  Their  first 
conference  meeting  was  held  in  this  district  in  1882. 

The  first  extended  series  of  meetings  was  held  in  this  church 
February  19-26,  1882,  by  Elder  James  Quinter.  Sound  doctrine 
that  could  not  be  gainsaid  was  preached  in  demonstration  of  the 
Spirit  and  power,  uniting  the  members  together  with  the  bond 
of  perfectness,  so  necessary  after  witnessing  the  troubles  the  year 
before,  and  anticipating,  at  the  time,  the  progressive  development. 
It  was  a  most  successful  meeting.  In  1886  they  organized  their 
first  Sunday-school.  In  the  same  year  the  church  unanimously 
concluded  to  go  back  to  the  original  mode  of  feet-washing,  with 
the  supper  on  the  table. 


CHAPTER   IX 
DOCTRINAL 

The  Tunkers  having  been  avowedly  opposed  to  creeds  from 
the  beginning,  it  has  always  been  a  difficult  matter  for  outside 
parties  to  state,  even  approximately,  what  they  did  believe. 
Their  practice,  so  far  as  ceremonials  are  concerned,  could  be 
observed  and  recorded  with  some  degree  of  accuracy.  However, 
a  form  of  government  has  evolved  through  the  decisions  of  the 
general  conferences,  which  may  be  accepted  as  the  rule  of  the 
church  upon  all  points  acted  upon.  The  aim  of  the  author  of  this 
work  is  to  give  the  views  of  prominent  members  of  the  denom- 
ination upon  all  paints  touching  theology,  and  not  his  own.  This 
course,  I  am  persuaded,  is  both  honorable  and  proper.  It  may,, 
however,  give  occasion  to  repeat  more  than  is  desirable,  as  this 
procedure  will  necessarily  prevent  a  systematic  arrangement  of 
the  various  subjects  to  be  treated. 

The  first  statement  will  be  the  testimony  of  Elder  Daniel  P. 
Sayler,  of  Maryland,  affirmed  to  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
of  Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  a  case  involving  church 
property.  Elder  Sayler  being  under  affirmation,  his  statement 
must  be  accepted  as  being  candid ;  and  being  a  prominent  elder  in 
the  church,  he  was  qualified  to  speak  for  the  denomination  as  one 
having  both  knowledge  and  authority.  This  statement  will  also 
indicate  the  facts  of  the  separation  of  the  Old  Order  element, 
which  faction  became  the  nucleus  for  the  organization  of  the  Old 
German  Baptist  Church. 

The  report  of  the  court  proceedings  has  been  stripped  of  official 
interpolations,  but  the  facts  as  stated  have  been  carefully 
preserved. 

The  question  at  issue  for  the  decision  of  the  court  was,  Which 
of  the  divisions  of  the  fraternity  was  the  church  ? 

r207^ 


208  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 


CHURCH    TERRITORY, 


On  this  subject  Elder  Sayler  said:  "Our  churches  are  com- 
posed of  certain  portions  of  territory,  the  boundaries  of  which  we 
know,  and  which  are  larger  and  smaller.  Over  that  territory  an 
elder  or  bishop  presides,  and  he  may  have  one  or  more  assistants 
in  the  ministry.  These,  with  the  laity,  compose  the  church.  The 
church  has  supervision,  moral  and  religious,  over  its  members. 

DISCIPLINE    OF    MEMBERS. 

"All  matters  of  immorality  are  referred  to  our  church  council 
meeting,  in  which  the  offenders  are  tried.  The  case  is  stated,  and 
when  heard  a  vote  is  taken  of  all  the  members,  male  and  female, 
of  the  church,  as  to  how  they  hold.  That  decision  of  the  church 
is  mandatory.  If  the  party  feels  aggrieved,  and  asks  for  a  rehear- 
ing or  new  trial,  if  a  majority  favors,  it  is  granted,  and  adjoining 
elders  are  called  in  to  assist  in  the  examination.  If  that  does  not 
satisfy,  he  may  appeal  to  the  annual  meeting  for  a  committee. 

ANNUAL,     DISTRICT,     AND     OTHER     COUNCILS. 

"The  annual  meeting  embraces  all  the  territory  over  which  the 
church  extends, — the  United  States,  and  Denmark,  and  all.  It 
is  the  highest  authority  in  the  church.  That  body  is  made  up  of 
all  who  choose  to  attend  it.  The  states  are  laid  off  in  what  we 
call  district  meetings,  and  these  are  made  to  suit  convenience. 
Pennsylvania  has  three,  and  Maryland  two,  and  so  on.  These 
meetings  are  held  annually,  and  are,  in  a  general  way,  composed 
of  all  who  attend.  Every  church,  however,  has  the  right  to  be 
represented  by  two  delegates.  These  take  the  business  of 
their  respective  churches  to  that  meeting.  All  questions  are  open 
to  free  discussion  to  all  who  are  present.  Decisions  are  made  by 
'the  vote  of  the  delegates,  without  any  rule.  All  questions  not 
agreed  to  are  sent  to  annual  meeting ;  also  all  questions  of  a  gen- 
eral character  are  sent  up,  such  as  having  the  right  to  organize 
Sunday-schools,  holding  series  of  protracted  meetings,  establish- 
ing colleges.     These  come  up  generally  in  the  form  of  petitions. 


DOCTRINAL.  209 

The  district  meeting  asks  concerning  them.  When  these  requests 
are  granted,  all  the  churches  of  the  brotherhood  have  the  right  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  liberty.  They  are  not  mandatory  to  all 
churches,  some  having  accepted  them,  others  having  rejected 
them,  and  hence  the  rebellion. 

"The  annual  meeting  meets  once  a  year — the  first  Tuesday  after 
Whitsuntide.  The  district  meeting  elects  a  member  of  the  stand- 
ing committee  of  the  annual  meeting,  and  one  delegate  at  large. 
I  further  say  that  at  the  district  meeting  any  who  attend  it  may 
discuss,  but  only  the  church  delegates  may  vote  on  questions. 
This  standing  committee  of  the  annual  meeting  elects  the  mod- 
erator of  the  meeting.  The  delegate  at  large  does  little  more  than 
carry  papers  from  the  home  church.  The  standing  committee 
regulates  all  the  business  of  annual  meeting.  All  business  is 
presented  to  the  general  meeting  by  the  standing  committee. 

"When  such  business  is  presented,  it  is  open  for  free  discussion, 
and  all  who  are  present  may  take  part.  The  moderator  decides 
who  is  entitled  to  the  floor,  calls  the  speaker  to  order,  if  out  of 
order,  and  decides  when  the  debate  shall  close.  The  question  is 
submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  whole  congregation,  male  and  female 
members  alike,  formerly  expressed  by  yeas  and  nays.  A  late 
meeting  (1882)  has  annulled  that  order  of  voting,  and  adopted 
the  delegate  system.     This  is  new,  and  yet  untried. 

"The  standing  committee  makes  its  own  organization  annually. 
They  elect  a  moderator  from  their  own  number,  and  go  outside 
for  a  reading  clerk,  who  reads  all  papers  ;  a  writing  clerk,  who 
prepares  the  manuscript  for  the  press.  A  record  is  kept  of  the 
proceedings  of  each  annual  meeting,  and  the  last  few  years,  a 
stenographic  report  of  the  speeches.  These  proceedings  are 
printed.  The  churches  get  the  printed  minutes,  and  in  this  way 
only  do  they  get  the  action  of  the  annual  meeting.  The  annual 
meeting  has  decided  that  these  minutes  shall  be  read  to  the  several 
churches.  This,  of  course,  is  done  after  the  printed  proceedings 
reach  the  elders.  No  action  of  the  churches  is  needed  to  be  taken. 
The  elders  simply  read  them  for  the  information  of  the  churches. 

"A  business  meeting  of  a  congregation  is  called  a  church  meet- 

14 


2IO  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ing  by  some ;  we  call  it  a  council.  I  think  the  times  of  holding 
these  meetings  differ  in  the  several  churches.  Some  hold  them 
quarterly ;  in  mine  we  meet  only  when  we  have  business.  The 
elder  or  the  eldest  preacher  who  has  the  charge,  presides  at  such 
meeting. 

"Our  ministry  is,  however,  as  the  first  degree,  the  second 
degree,  and  the  full  ministry  or  eldership.  The  minister  of  the 
first  degree  is  merely  an  assistant,  has  no  authority  to  appoint 
meetings  on  his  own  account,  and  can  preach  only  as  liberty  is 
given  him  by  older  ministers,  except  at  funerals,  when  he  is 
allowed  to  preach. 

"Of  the  second  degree,  he  is  authorized  to  make  appointments 
in  his  own  church  territory,  baptize,  marry,  administer  the  com- 
munion, preside  in  the  local  councils,  and  in  all  minor  matters, 
but  has  no  authority  to  preside  in  case  an  officer  of  the  church  is 
on  trial,  can  not  install  in  the  ministry,  nor  lay  hands  on  in 
ordination. 

"If  advanced  to  the  eldership,  he  is  invested  with  authority  to 
preside  in  all  councils  at  home  and  abroad,  and  is  eligible  to  serve 
on  the  standing  committee. 

"In  the  first  place,  the  presiding  elder  of  a  church  sees  the  neces- 
sity of  having  another  minister ;  he  makes  it  known  to  the  church, 
and  if  the  church  assents  to  it,  and  it  is  desirable  to  have  it  unan- 
imous if  possible,  the  members  are  exhorted  to  fasting  and 
prayer,  making  the  subject  a  matter  of  serious  thought  and  prayer. 
At  a  meeting,  generally  one  of  our  communion  meetings,  to  which 
elders  of  other  churches  are  called,  before  them  all  the  members 
of  the  church  are  exhorted  to  say,  by  their  voice,  whom  they  will 
choose  for  their  preacher.  He  who  receives  the  majority  is 
installed  in  the  first  degree  of  the  ministry  by  one  of  the  called 
elders. 

"A  congregational  vote  is  taken  upon  the  question  whether  a 
minister  shall  be  advanced  to  the  second  degree,  and  he  is  charged 
by  the  elders.  When  an  elder  dies,  the  minister  of  the  second 
degree,  who  is  next  in  seniority,  is  advanced. 

"When  a  brother  is  called  to  the  eldership,  two  elders  are  called 


DOCTRINAL.  211 

from  adjoining  churches;  to  them  the  matter  is  stated.  They 
retire  to  a  private  room,  and  all  the  members,  male  and  female, 
are  called  into  their  presence,  one  at  a  time,  and  their  wishes 
learned.  It  is  desirable  that  they  should  be  unanimous.  If 
objection  is  made,  and  the  elders  present  consider  the  objection 
well  taken,  there  is  no  ordination ;  but  if  the  elders  do  not  con- 
sider the  objection  well  taken  or  legal,  they  may  overrule  the 
objection,  and  the  ordination  proceeds,  his  duties  being  clearly 
defined  what  the  gospel  requires  of  him  and  what  the  church 
requires  of  him.  If  he  assent  to  it  at  all,  and  accepts  his  position, 
he  kneels  down,  and  two  elders  lay  their  hands  on  his  head,  with 
prayer,  and  he  becomes  an  elder.  Unless  chosen  in  the  manner 
I  have  described,  no  one  has  a  right  in  our  church  to  exercise  any 
privileges  of  a  minister. 

"The  territory  of  a  congregation  is  called  a  church,  and  a  num- 
ber of  them  combined  are  a  district.  A  church  may  have  a  num- 
ber of  meeting  places.  Each  district  ordinarily  has  a  presiding 
elder  or  bishop ;  some  have  more. 

"All  questions  in  the  councils,  the  district  meetings,  the  annual 
meetings,  are  decided  by  a  majority. 

MANDATORY    DECISIONS. 

"While  heretofore  there  has  not  been  a  clear  definition  of  what 
is  mandatory  and  what  is  not,  in  the  decisions  of  the  annual  meet- 
ing, it  is  hard  for  me  now  to  define  it.  Matters  come  before  the 
meeting  in  different  shapes.  If  a  matter  arises  in  the  church  not 
involving  a  doctrinal  question,  and  the  elder  may  not  be  author- 
ized to  decide  it,  he  may  send  it  to  the  annual  meeting  for  advice, 
and  the  action  of  the  annual  meeting  is  advisory  only.  This 
question  must  pass  through  the  district  meeting.  Cases  of 
immorality, — criminal  offenses, — the  nature  of  which  is  not 
defined  in  the  gospel,  for  instance,  billiard  and  drinking  saloons, 
which  are  not  mentioned  in  the  gospel,  and  similar  cases,  are 
taken  up  to  the  annual  meeting.  The  decisions  upon  such  cases 
are  mandatory.  If  a  petition  asking  the  privilege  to  hold  a 
Sunday-school  is  granted,  the  privilege  applies  to  all  the  churches, 


212  HISTORY    OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

and  all  who  choose  may  avail  themselves  of  it.  If  my  church 
accepts  the  privilege  granted,  no  other  church  has  a  right  to  inter- 
fere with  its  liberty.  The  acceptance  is  determined  by  the  church 
at  home — by  its  council — by  all  who  were  present  at  it.  At  a 
council  only  members  have  a  right  to  vote. 

"If  a  church  asks  for  a  privilege  from  the  annual  meeting,  and 
it  should  be  granted,  but  on  the  return  of  the  decision  from  the 
annual  meeting,  the  minority  should  yet  be  dissatisfied,  I  can  not 
say  what  would  be  done,  for  no  such  case  has  ever  arisen. 

"When  a  difference  arises  in  a  church  in  regard  to  matters  that 
&re  mandatory,  the  loyal  members  of  that  church  will  call  a  coun- 
cil, and  that  council  will  call  adjoining  elders,  and  they  will  exam- 
ine the  case,  and,  if  required,  will  expel  the  refractory  members. 
The  expelled  ones  have  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  annual  meeting 
for  a  committee,  and  that  committee  comes  and  examines  the 
case,  and  if  the  decision  of  the  church  that  expelled  them  is 
affirmed  by  the  committee,  and  accepted  by  the  majority  of  the 
loyal  members  of  the  church,  the  decision  is  final. 

"The  highest  jurisdiction  in  the  church  is  the  annual  meeting. 
All  the  churches  are  subordinate  and  subject  to  the  control  of  the 
annual  meeting,  if  loyal.  The  loyal  members  of  a  church  are 
those  who  are  governed  by  the  proceedings  of  the  annual  meet- 
ing, and  that  is  so  whether  they  are  a  majority  or  minority  of  the 
church.  After  that  the  disloyal  members  are  not  regarded  as 
constituent  members  of  the  church.  On  doctrinal  points,  and 
those  of  crime  and  immorality,  the  action  of  the  annual  meeting- 
is  mandatory,  and  that  action  must  be  obeyed  by  all  the  loyal 
members  of  the  church. 

"In  all  cases  that  I  can  remember  of  appeals  to  the  annual  meet- 
ing, and  decisions  thereon,  favorable  to  such  matters  as  Sunday- 
schools,  protracted  meetings,  and  the  like,  if  the  local  church  or 
churches  were  not  unanimous  about  them  after  the  decision  and 
a  minority  continued  to  oppose,  the  advice  of  the  annual  meeting 
has  been  to  defer  until  there  could  be  unanimity  in  the  matter. 
If  a  minority  in  such  cases  as  Sunday-schools,  protracted  meet- 
ings, or  the  like,  which,  when  acted  on  and  permitted  by  the 


DOCTRINAL.     '  213 

annual  meeting,  are  advisory  simply,  should,  in  its  opposition  to 
the  measure,  refuse  to  agree  with  the  majority  and  withdraw 
from  the  church,  they  would  be  expelled  from  and  be  no  longer 
considered  as  members  of  the  church. 

"The  membership  of  the  church,  according  to  the  last  census 
taken  (1882),  is  somewhat  less  than  100,000. 

"The  denomination  or  body  has  no  written  or  printed  creed  that 
I  know  of,  except  as  developed  by  the  minutes  of  the  annual 
meeting. 

"The  present  dissension  originated  among  the  brethren  in  the 
Miami  Valley,  Ohio,  in  1869.  They  came  before  the  general 
council  with  a  petition,  and  asked  annual  meeting  to  rescind  cer- 
tain grants  that  they  had  granted,  and  objected  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  meeting  was  held;  to  the  term  "moderator;"  to  the 
names  of  certain  of  the  general  committee  brethren  being  signed 
to  the  minutes.  I,  of  the  number,  met  them  and  satisfied  them, 
apparently,  for  the  time  being,  and  harmony  was  restored  until 
in  1880,  when  they  presented  to  the  annual  meeting  a  petition,  a 
printed  copy  of  which  I  present.  This  is  a  petition  from  the 
elders  of  the  Miami  Valley  to  the  district  of  southern  Ohio,  for 
the  annual  meeting  of  1880.  This  came  up  from  the  district  to 
annual  meeting  of  1880.  It  was  presented  and  considered,  but  all 
that  was  petitioned  for  was  not  granted.  I  have  here  in  print 
the  action  taken  by  the  annual  meeting.  It  is  shown  in  the  min- 
utes of  1880,  in  this  pamphlet,  on  page  8  and  following.  The 
action  of  the  annual  meeting  did  not  satisfy  the  petitioners.  The 
elders  signed  to  this  petition  called  a  meeting.  I  was  present, 
and  went  there  to  prevent  secession.  This  paper  is  headed  "Min- 
utes of  the  Miami  Valley  Council."  This  paper  shows  what  was 
officially  done  at  that  meeting.  I  believe  that  the  object  of  the 
meeting  was  to  bring  about  secession.  The  meeting  was  called 
for  the  8th  of  December,  1880,  and  lasted  through  the  9th  and 
10th.  These  resolutions  were  offered  at  that  meeting,  and  when 
they  failed  to  pass,  it  was  agreed  that  these  resolutions  should 
go  to  the  annual  meeting;  but  when  they  came  there,  they  were 
ruled  out  on  the  ground  that  they  had  not  come  from  the  district 


214  HISTORY    OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

meeting.  Then  the  petitioners  called  a  meeting  for  August  24, 
1 88 1.  I  was  not  present  at  that  meeting,  but  at  that  meeting  the 
resolutions  were  adopted.  With  the  exception  of  David  Murray, 
the  resolutions  are  signed  by  the  same  persons  as  had  signed 
the  former. 

"On  September  2,  1881,  I  was  in  Ohio,  and  the  loyal  members 
of  the  Loudon  and  Painter  Creek  church  held  a  meeting  in  the 
same  house  as  the  meeting  of  August  24  was  held.  William 
Cassel,  the  elder  of  that  church,  was  the  leader  in  that  meeting  of 
the  24th  of  August.  This  of  September  2  was  called  by  the  loyal 
members  of  the  church.  At  this  meeting  William  Cassel  was 
tried  on  the  following  charges : — 

"1.  For  taking  an  active  part  in  the  great  schismatic  meeting, 
by  which  many  of  our  beloved  members  have  been  induced  to 
separate  themselves  from  the  brotherhood. 

"2.  For  telling  the  untruth,  and  railing  against  the  church,  by 
saying,  'When  I  was  at  last  annual  meeting  I  did  not  know 
whether  I  was  at  a  show,  a  circus,  or  an  annual  meeting,  or  what/ 

"3- 

"4.  Preferred  by  Elder  Joseph  Kaufman :  'William  Cassel  said 
at  the  meeting  of  the  24th  of  August,  1881,  that  all  who  accept 
these  resolutions,  separate  themselves  from  the  brotherhood  and 
the  annual  meeting.' 

"On  these  charges  he  was  tried,  and  they  were  overwhelmingly 
proved.  A  vote  was  taken  in  regard  to  his  standing  in  the  church. 
One  hundred  thirty-nine  answered,  'Not  as  a  brother ;'  eighteen 
answered,  'We  hold  him  as  a  brother ;'  and  he  was  expelled. 

"In  our  faith  we  do  not  differ  from  any  evangelical  body  of 
Christians.  The  differences  are  in  the  practical  part.  We  believe 
in  the  atonement,  as  all  Christians  do.  The  only  difference  is  in 
the  manner  of  the  application.  We  believe  that  faith,  repentance, 
and  baptism  are  inseparably  joined  together.  We  believe  in 
thrice  immersion,  face  forward.  We  believe  that  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per consists  in  a  full  meal,  to  be  taken  in  the  evening,  according 
to  the  example  given  by  Christ,  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  John. 
Directly  after  the  meal  is  eaten,  bread  and  wine  are  partaken  of 


DOCTRINAL.  2I5 

as  the  communion,  representing  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
To  obey  all  the  truths  is  a  cardinal  injunction.  By  that  we  mean 
to  obey  all  the  Scriptures  teach. 

"We  all  consent  in  our  baptismal  covenant  to  obey  the  church — 
by  which  we  mean  the  church,  not  the  congregation. 

"As  doctrine  we  regard  faith,  repentance,  baptism,  the  Lord's 
Supper,  feet-washing,  communion  of  bread  and  wine,  a  kiss 
of  charity.  The  Bible,  and  the  Bible  alone,  is  the  rule  of 
salvation  as  to  matters  of  faith  and  practice,  and  has  always  been 
the  rule.  Our  present  system  was  organized  in  Germany,  in  1708. 
Alexander  Mack  was  one  of  the  reformers.  I  think  that  in  1719 
it  began  in  America.  The  first  congregation  was  organized  in 
Germantown,  Pennsylvania.  In  essentials  the  doctrines  are 
unchanged.  It  is  one  of  the  rules  that  members  do  not  go  to  law 
with  each  other.  We  resort  to  equity  to  settle  differences,  as  in 
cases  of  succession  to  property. 

"Touching  the  real  estate  belonging  to  the  church,  I  know  of  no 
rule  about  its  disposition.  This  question  was  never  brought 
before  the  annual  meeting,  to  my  knowledge.  There  never  has 
been  a  question  raised  at  law  about  real  estate.  My  knowledge 
is  general,  since  1841,  of  the  doings  of  the  annual  meeting.  Since 
1842  the  proceedings  are  in  print — before  in  manuscript — and 
were  collected,  at  the  grant  of  the  annual  meeting,  by  Elders 
Tames  Quinter  and  H.  D.  Davy,  and  printed  in  a  volume.  So  far 
as  questions  had  been  asked,  these  publications  contain  the  action 
and  advice  of  the  church  from  the  beginning.  The  annual  meet- 
ings undoubtedly  never  assumed  to  themselves  legislative  power. 
The  word  'mandatory'  is  a  new  word,  and  perhaps  was  used  first 
at  last  annual  meeting.  When  the  meaning  of  the  gospel  is 
expressed,  the  annual  meeting  can  not  assume  to  change  it.  In 
the  essentials  of  faith,  repentance,  baptism,  and  the  Bible,  all, 
loyal  and  disloyal,  agree.  If  a  man  does  not  subscribe  to  the 
advantage  of  a  Sunday-school,  he  is  not  disloyal.  I  accept  such 
schools.  If  another  will  not,  and  will  not  fellowship  me,  he  is 
disloyal.  Objections  to  a  paid  ministry  do  not  constitute  dis- 
loyalty, only  disobedience  to  the  mandates. 


2l6  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

"The  seceders  in  the  Miami  Valley  withdrew  because  they 
objected  to  our  tolerance  of  Sunday-schools,  protracted  meetings, 
missionary  boards,  colleges,  and  paid  ministry.  I  know  of  no 
difference  in  doctrine  at  all.  The  seceders  say  that  we  have  gone 
away  from  the  doctrines  of  the  old.  In  my  earlier  days — twenty- 
five  years  ago — this  was  the  state  of  the  church.  We  had  then 
no  railroads,  etc.,  either. 

"I  did  not  ever  preach  against  the  innovations.  I  do  not  know 
that  I  ever  preached  against  colleges.  I  might  find  fault  with 
those  who  oppose  Sunday-schools.  In  an  article  in  the  Vindicator 
of  March,  1878,  written  by  me,  I  did  take  the  ground  that  the 
church  needed  reorganization. 

"The  article  in  the  Vindicator  of  June,  1881,  headed  'Legislative 
or  Mandatory  Only,'  is  my  article.  I  have  always  contended  that 
the  decisions  of  the  annual  meeting  should  be  mandatory  on  all 
subjects.  I  mean  it  in  the  strongest  sense.  I  was  the  author  of 
the  petition  presented  in  the  last  meeting,  and  the  annual  meet- 
ing decided  that  upon  all  subjects  submitted  to  them  its  decrees 
or  decisions  should  be  mandatory.  This  action  is  not  yet  printed. 
The  annual  meeting  sat  for  seven  days. 

"By  the  reorganization  of  the  church,  as  set  forth  in  the  article 
of  March,  1878,  I  meant  just  what  is  set  out  in  the  petition  pre- 
sented at  last  meeting, — that  the  church  should  define  in  a  written 
rule  what  our  faith,  rules,  and  practices  are ;  should  define  minis- 
terial duties.  If  the  annual  meeting  would  accept,  and  if  a  cer- 
tain element  would  not,  then,  as  I  wished,  that  element  should  be 
sloughed  off,  but  I  did  not  get  it  adopted.  Since  I  have  been  a 
member  of  the  church,  the  majority  rule  in  voting  has  been  the 
rule.  I  do  not  know  of  any  effort  to  get  back  to  an  older  rule 
of  unanimity.  No  man,  for  a  mere  matter  of  opinion,  has  ever 
been  put  out  in  our  church.  Since  1864,  the  powers  of  the  annual 
meetings  have  not  been  changed,  so  far  as  I  know.  The  rule  has 
been  advisory  only. 

"Article  34,  minutes  annual  meeting,  1865,  'Does  the  annual 
council  make  laws  or  give  advice  only  when  it  has  no  direct  gosr 
pel  on  the  subject?'     The  answer  being,  Tt  gives    advice    onlyjr 


DOCTRINAL.  217 

so  far  as  I  know,  passed  annual  meeting,  as  appears  by  the 
minutes. 

"Article  41,  pages  218-9,  °f  the  published  minutes  of  1858,  is  the 
method  of  receiving  people  into  the  church,  so  far  as  I  know. 
The  covenant  I  speak  of  is  that  contained  in  Matthew  18:  10-22. 
It  was  the  intention  of  the  minutes  that  the  practice  of  the  church 
should  be  uniform,  and  this  teaching  was  intended  to  make  it 
so.  *  *  *  Questions  about  Sunday-schools,  educated  or  paid 
ministry,  are  not  put  to  candidates.  These  are  not  questions  of 
doctrine,  but  of  expediency  or  policy. 

"The  rule  of  conduct  touching  suits  at  law  was  laid  down  in 
minutes  of  annual  meeting,  1867,  section  24,  page  325.  There 
have  been  some  modifications  since.  One  is  that  they  might  con- 
sult the  church,  and  if  the  church  saw  proper,  the  right  to  sue 
might  be  given.  Another  is,  that  if  a  brother  does  sue,  the  church 
can  not  give  him  authority,  and  he  does  it  on  his  own  responsi- 
bility. When  the  suit  is  decided,  the  church  may  know  what 
amount  of  wrong  he  did,  and  can  judge  him  farther  on.  I  don't 
myself  consult  the  book  of  minutes,  but  consider  the  written  law 
of  the  church  to  be  the  Bible.  If  the  annual  meeting  passed 
what  I  thought  to  be  in  conflict  with  the  Bible,  I  would  oppose 
it;  but  if  the  annual  meeting  did  pass  it,  I  would  then  consider 
what  to  do.  I  would  heed  the  decision  as  that  of  the  church,  and 
would  think  that  I  was  wrong.  If  it  were  proposed  to  change 
baptism  to  sprinkling,  then  I  would  rebel.  I  make  the  Bible  the 
rule  of  my  conduct,  and  not  the  decisions  of  the  annual  meeting. 
As  individuals,  we  are  all  permitted  to  hold  our  own  views  of 
what  the  Bible  teaches,  but  are  not  permitted  to  preach  all  our 
private  views. 

EXPELLED     MEMBERS. 

"An  expelled  member  is  excluded  from  all  participation  in 
church  matters,  from  the  whole  church.  Any  church  fellow- 
shiping  an  expelled  member  can  be  brought  into  council. 

"The  expulsion  of  members  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the 
church,  as  we  understand  them,  places  such  members  out  of  fel- 


2l8  HISTORY    OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

lowship  with  the  whole  body  of  the  church  at  large ;  and  if  the 
members  of  another  church  would  admit  those  expelled  members 
into  their  fellowship,  they  would  be  expelled  also." 

OLD-ORDER  TROUBLE  IN  THE  ANTIETAM   CHURCH. 

Then  the  case  turned  to  local  matters,  and  was  confined  to  the 
Antietam  church,  Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania.  Elder  Sayler 
had  been  appointed  bishop  of  that  congregation  by  a  committee 
from  annual  meeting,  and  his  testimony  was  mostly  in  reference 
to  cases  of  a  personal  or  individual  character.  Then  Elder  Say- 
ler proceeded:  "Such  circumstances  as  those  of  the  Miami  Valley, 
and  this  of  the  Antietam  church,  Pennsylvania,  never  having 
occurred  here  before  in  the  history  of  the  German  Baptist  Church, 
I  have  no  precedent  on  which  to  base  what  the  mind  of  the  church 
would  be.  My  private  opinion  is,  looking  at  it  from  the  fact  that 
a  brother  possessed  of  certain  real  estate  dies  intestate  and  has 
minor  heirs,  that  it  is  legal,  just,  right,  and  allowed  by  the  church, 
to  sell  and  convey  that  realty  through  the  court  of  equity.  On  the 
same  ground  I  hold  it  to  be  just  and  right  for  the  church  to 
recover  property  by  the  same  means. 

"The  rule  of  the  church  is,  that  when  a  committee  is  sent  by  the 
annual  meeting,  that  committee  represents  the  church,  and  can 
make  precedents  for  future  action. 

"In  the  spring  of  1881,  a  general  visit  of  the  whole  church  at 
Antietam,  Pennsylvania,  was  ordered  by  the  council,  of  which  I 
was  the  presiding  elder.  A  visit  once  a  year  is  the  order  in  our 
church.  The  object  of  a  general  church  visit  is  to  ascertain  the 
standing  and  feelings  of  the  membership,  and  to  assist  in  recon- 
ciling matters  of  minor  differences  between  members.  On  this 
visit  the  visiting  brethren  were  instructed,  in  addition  to  their 
general  duties,  to  ascertain  the  feelings  of  the  membership  in 
regard  to  the  standing-  in  this  division,  and  report  to  the  council 
the  names  of  all  who  go  with  the  division.  This  was  done,  and 
at  a  council  meeting  to  which  the  elders  had  again  been  called,  all 
who  were  reported  as  having  determined  to  go  with  the  division 
were  expelled  without  trial  or  notice.     About  eighty  persons  were 


DOCTRINAL.  219 

so  expelled.  There  was  a  large  congregation  present  that  day, — 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty." 

The  following  is  the  paragraph  from  the  Vindicator  of  June, 
1881,  referred  to  in  the  foregoing:  "Now  I  propose  that  annual 
meeting  pass  that  all  questions  sent  to  her  for  decision  shall  be 
fairly  decided  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  in  such  cases 
where  there  is  no  direct,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  applicable  to  the 
case,  and  that  decision  shall  be  mandatory ;  and  all  brethren 
refusing  so  to  observe  it  shall  be  dealt  with  as  not  hearing  the 
church. 

"And  that  next  annual  meeting  shall  appoint  a  committee,  to 
consist  of  one  member  from  each  district,  who  shall  make  their 
own  organization,  and  shall,  during  the  year,  write  out  in  regular 
order  and  form,  the  order,  faith,  and  practice  of  the  German 
Baptist  Church,  which  shall  be  submitted  to  annual  meeting  of 
1882  for  approval  and  adoption ;  and  when  adopted  shall  be  man- 
datory, as  the  rule  and  order  of  the  church." — D.  P.  Sayler. 

HISTORICAL    EVIDENCE    ON    FEET-WASHING. 

Brother  C asset's  Reply. 

The  following  article  was  put  in  print  by  the  Brethren  at 
Work,  but  was  never  published  in  the  paper.  It  is  a  reply  to 
the  report  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  annual  meeting  to 
ascertain,  if  possible,  which  was  the  first  mode  of  feet-washing 
practiced  by  the  church.  There  were  several  elders  on  the  com- 
mittee, but  for  some  reason  Elder  Sayler  alone .  performed  the 
duties  assigned  to  them.  This  explanation  will  account  for  the 
personal  character  of  Brother  Cassel's  article. 

The  article  from  the  pen  of  Brother  Daniel  P.  Sayler  in  the 
Brethren's  Advocate  of  March  30  was  so  far  from  the  truth  that 
I  concluded  it  did  not  merit  a  reply,  and  would  have  held  my 
peace,  if  brethren  had  not  requested  me  to  reply.  I  will,  there- 
fore, in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  try  to  do  so. 

In  the  first  paragraph  he  says :  "In  compliance  with  appoint- 
ment by  annual  meeting  of  1871,  to  ascertain  as  far  as  possible  how 


220  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

the  brethren  first  washed  feet  in  America,  I  made  as  thorough, 
an  investigation  of  the  subject  as  then  could  be  made,"  etc.  Now, 
let  me  tell,  with  the  strictest  regard  to  truth,  how  thorough  that 
investigation  was  made. 

He  (Sayler)  came  here  with  another  brother  who  is  also  an 
elder  (but  because  he  has  so  far  held  his  peace,  I  will  not  now 
mention  his  name*)  on  a  Saturday  afternoon.  I  was  not  at  home 
when  they  came,  but  they  were  kindly  received  by  my  family 
(who  wTere  all  members),  and  requested  to  stay,  as  I  would  soon 
be  home,  but  they  would  not.  My  son  and  others  of  the  family 
pressed  them  to  stay,  as  it  was  our  regular  meeting  Sunday,  and 
it  so  happened  that  we  had  no  preacher,  therefore  they  were  the 
more  anxious  that  they  should  stay  and  preach  for  us ;  but  no, 
they  would  not,  and  stayed  all  night  (unknown  to  us)  near  by  with 
a  stranger  where  they  had  no  business.  But  while  they  were 
here,  Brother  Sayler  said  they  would  for  all  like  to  see  the  library, 
so  as  to  have  an  idea  of  its  nature  and  size.  My  son  then  took 
them  up  (the  room  is  forty  feet  long  in  the  clear),  and  they 
walked  through  to  the  end  of  it  on  the  one  side,  and  back  again 
on  the  other  to  the  stairway,  without  asking  a  question  or  looking 
at  anything,  and  were,  altogether,  hardly  five  minutes  in  it.  They 
then  reported  that  they  had  been  to  see  Brother  Cassel,  but  found 
nothing  on  feet-washing,  as  he  asserts. 

This,  dear  brethren,  is  the  truth,  and  to  corroborate  it  I  say 
that  in  all  my  intercourse  with  the  brethren  I  have  not  found  a 
bitterer  enemy  to  the  single  mode  than  Daniel  P.  Sayler.  He 
had  to  come  here  because  he  was  expressly  ordered  to  see  me, 
as  I  was  informed.  But  he  did  not  want  to  see  me  or  anything 
pertaining  to  the  single  mode,  and  so  he  artfully  slipped  through, 
without  seeing  anything,  in  the  manner  just  told.  And  what 
makes  it  still  worse,  the  neighbor  with  whom  they  stayed  over- 
night says  that  after  supper  he  offered  to  walk  with  them  up  to 
my  house,  or  he  would  bring  them  up,  but  they  would  not. 
I  would  further  say  that  since  his  visit  here  I  traveled  through 
Maryland,  and  stayed  with  Brother  Sayler  all  night,  and  to  his 
credit  I  say,  he  received  me  very  kindly  as  a  brother  in  the  Lord. 

*  It  was  Elder  Moses  Miller. — Author. 


DOCTRINAL.  221 

It  was  a  cold,  chilly  October  evening,  so  after  supper  he  raked 
up  the  fire  and  said,  "Now,  Brother  Cassel,  sit  here  by  me,  and 
let  us  have  a  real  old-fashioned  talk."  "What  shall  be  the  sub- 
ject, Brother  Daniel?"  said  I.  "Oh,  anything  at  all,"  he  replied, 
"except  feet-washing!  I  will  hear  nothing  about  that,  for  you 
have  your  views  and  I  have  mine,  and  I  mean  to  hold  to  what 
I  have.  Therefore,  there  is  no  use  talking  about  it."  And  so 
my  visit  to  him  passed  off  without  saying  anything  more  about 
it.  For,  from  his  previous  knowledge  of  me,  he  knew  very  well 
that  I  had  such  overwhelming  testimonies  in  favor  of  the  single 
mode  that  he  could  not  overcome  them,  and  therefore  he  would 
not  hear  or  see  anything  relating  to  it.  This,  I  trust,  will  suffi- 
ciently answer  his  first  paragraph. 

In  the  second  he  ^says :  "The  only  written  testimony  I  found 
on  the  mode  of  feet- washing  is  from  the  Ephratah  Chronicon,  on 
pages  217,  218.  It  is  written  that  G.  A.  Martin  and  J.  Ham  came 
to  Ephratah  on  a  visit,  and  stopped  with \ Father  Friedsam  (that 
is,  Conrad  Beisel),  when  he  washed  their  feet  and  Brother 
Negley  wiped  them,"  etc. 

This,  he  says,  is  the  only  testimony  he  could  find,  and  this  is 
the  double  mode.  I  say  it  is  no  testimony  at  all ;  or  if  it  is  any- 
thing, it  is  against  him,  as  it  only  proves  their  deviation  from 
their  own,  original  single  mode.  But  it  does  not  concern  us  in 
the  least,  as  Ham  and  Martin  were  both  at  the  time  fallen  mem- 
bers, who  had  left  the  church.  Ham  became  a  Universalist  of 
the  worst  kind,  and  of  Martin  I  might  say  a  good  deal,  but  out 
of  respect  for  his  yet  living  descendants  I  forbear.  And,  further, 
it  was  only  a  social  act  of  humility,  which  was  more  or  less  cus- 
tomary at  that  time  to  distinguished  visitors,  as  I  very  well 
remember  myself;  and  as  it  was  not  intended  for  the  sacred 
ordinance  to  be  observed  in  connection  with  the  emblem,  it  did 
not  matter  about  the  mode.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  it  does. not  in 
the  least  concern  us  now,  for  this  took  place  about  the  year 
1760,  and  Beisel  and  his  adherents  had  left  the  brethren  already 
in  1734.  And  so  completely  did  they  leave  them,  that  they 
would  neither  "lot  nor  part  with  them  any  more;"   and  as  a 


222  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

token  of  it  Beisel  said,  "We  even  gave  them  their  baptism  back 
again  by  being  rebaptized."  Therefore,  I  said  it  did  not  con- 
cern us  how  they  observed  it  so  many  years  after  they  had  so 
completely  left  us.  But,  to  enlighten  Brother  Sayler  and  others 
equally  ignorant,  I  will  give  you  a  short  account  of  Conrad 
Beisel,  and  the  organization  of  the  church  to  which  he  belonged. 

He  was  born  at  Eberbach,  in  Germany,  in  1691,  and  although 
bred  a  Presbyterian,  he  was  a  ripe  mystic  before  he  left  Ger- 
many. He  arrived  at  Boston,  Massachusetts,  in  1720,  from 
whence  he  came  to  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  and  had  his 
home  for  several  years  with  my  great-grandfather,  Peter  Becker, 
and  learned  the  art  of  weaving  stockings  while  with  him.  After 
he  left  Germantown  he  traveled  westward,  and  lived  for  a  while 
as  a  hermit  about  Mill  Creek,  and  the  Swedespring,  in  Lancaster 
County.  He  was  long  before  convinced  of  the  duty  and  neces- 
sity of  baptism,  but  considered  himself  so  eminently  holy  and 
far  advanced  in  the  divine  life  that  he  could  see  nobody  fit  to 
administer  it  to  him,  until  the  thought  struck  him  that,  while 
Jesus  Christ  condescended  to  be  baptized  by  His  inferior  servant 
John,  so  he  might  also  be  baptized  by  one  inferior  to  himself,  and 
was  accordingly  baptized  by  Peter  Becker,  with  six  others,  on  the 
1 2th  of  November,  1724,  in  the  little  stream  called  the  Pequa, 
in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania.  These  were  the  nucleus  of 
the  old  Conestoga  or  Ephratah  church.  Others  were  soon 
added,  and  a  church  was  organized  there  the  same  vear,  with 
the  assistance  of  Peter  Becker  and  others  from  the  mother  church 
of  Germantown,  and  entrusted  to  the  care  and  oversight  of  this 
Conrad  Beisel.  He  soon  began  to  make  changes,  and  introduced 
a  number  of  innovations  which  the  brethren  would  not  sanction. 
So,  after  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and  long  years  of  vexation,  they 
finally  split,  as  above  said,  and  let  him  have  his  own  way,  which 
included  Brother  Sayler's  favorite  double  mode  of  feet-washing, 
which  you  may  rest  assured  has  no  higher  origin  than  the  fertile 
brain  of  the  mystic  Conrad  Beisel. 

In  the  third  paragraph  he  says :  "One  thing  is  certain,  that  the 
claim  'mother  church'  does  not  apply  to  the  Germantown  church, 


DOCTRINAL.  223 

for  mother  implies  offspring,  and  she  has  none,  while  her  sister 
Conestoga  has  many  branches."  With  astonishment  I  ask  the 
reader,  Did  you  ever  hear  anything  further  from  the  truth  than 
this  assertion?  I  think  I  have  already  satisfactorily  shown  that 
Conestoga  was  not  the  sister  nor  a  sister  of  the  mother  church  of 
Germantown,  but  one  of  her  legitimate  and  first-begotten  daugh- 
ters ;  and  as  mother  implies  offspring,  as  he  says,  so  sister  must 
necessarily  imply  a  descent.  I  would,  therefore,  ask,  Where  did 
this  sister  Conestoga  descend  from  ?  What  is  her  parentage  ?  or, 
Who  was  her  mother?  Even  if  we  had  no  record  of  her  origin 
and  organization,  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  all  the  brethren  that 
came  across  the  ocean  first  stopped  a  while  at  Germantown,  and 
that  the  first  and  only  organized  church  of  the  brethren  then  in 
America  was  the  one  organized  in  Germantown,  which  was  organ- 
ized on  the  25th  of  December,  1723,  at  the  house  of  Brother  John 
Gomery.  Now,  as  this  was  the  first,  and,  as  already  said,  the 
only  church  in  America,  and  which  for  a  while  embraced  all  the 
members  that  came  to  America,  how,  then,  could  Conestoga  be 
her  sister,  or  how  could  she  be  anything  else  but  an  offspring  of 
the  mother  church  of  Germantown,  as  he  himself  is,  as  I  will 
show.  For  his  ancestor,  Daniel  Sayler,  or  Seiler  as  the  name 
was  then  written,  was  baptized  into  this  Conestoga  church  on  the 
29th  of  March,  1782,  by  Michael  Pfoutz,  and  Michael  Pfoutz 
by  its  then  elder,  Michael  Frantz,  in  1739,  and  Michael  Frantz 
was  baptized  by  Peter  Becker,  of  Germantown,  on  the  29th  of 
September,  1734,  and  also  ordained  by  him  the  same  year,  which 
proves  that  our  servant  D.  P.  S.  is  a  direct  offspring  of  that 
mother  church  which  he  says  had  no  offspring. 

Further  on  in  the  same  paragraph  he  says :  "It  is  true  that  the 
brethren  always  did  wash  feet  in  the  single  mode  in  the  German- 
town  church,  but  in  all  subsequently-organized  churches  the 
double  mode  was  always  practiced,  ...  for  it  is  morally 
certain  that  the  single  mode  was  observed  in  no  other  church." 
This  is  another  very  erroneous  assertion,  for  it  is  not  only 
"morally  certain,"  but  positively  sure,  that  the  double  mode  was 
not  always  practiced  in  all  the  subsequently-organized  churches, 


224  HISTORY    OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

but  on  the  contrary,  the  subsequently-organized  churches  did,  for 
a  good  while,  all  practice  the  single  mode,  and  many  of  them  held 
to  it  till  they  were  broken  up  by  domineering  elders.  To  clear 
this  assertion  I  shall  resort  to  history,  which  is  as  follows : — 

The  double  mode  being  introduced  as  above  said  by  Beisel  and 
his  adherents,  it  soon  gained  favor  by  others,  who  also  took  part 
in  it.  Especially  was  this  the  case  with  the  sister  church  of 
Coventry,  then  under  the  eldership  of  Martin  Urner,  who  was  also 
a  mystic,  born  in  Alsace,  in  Germany,  in  1695  ;  came  to  America 
in  171 5,  and  settled  with  the  Hermits  of  the  Ridge,  not  far  from 
Philadelphia,  in  1723.  He  was  also  baptized  by  Peter  Becker, 
after  which  he  and  several  others  moved  to  what  is  now  Coventry, 
in  Chester  County,  who  were  the  nucleus  of  that  for  many  years 
flourishing  church  of  the  same  name,  and  of  which  he  became 
the  overseer,  in  1729;  and  while  he  was  of  a  kindred  spirit  with 
Beisel,  he  would  see  things  as  Beisel  did,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  took  sides  with  him  in  many  respects,  at  least  in  the 
double  mode  of  feet-washing,  which  was  early  introduced  in  that 
church.  And  as  the  country  was  beautiful,  and  the  soil  very 
fertile,  numbers  flocked  thither,  until  the  price  of  land  became 
very  high,  and  being  mostly  poor,  they  began  to  leave  and  seek 
for  cheaper  homes  elsewhere.  Many  moved  to  what  was  then 
called  the  Conecocheague,  now  partly  embraced  in  the  counties 
of  Franklin  and  Perry,  and  established  churches  there  as  early 
as  1743.  Some  also  went  to  German  colonies  that  were  then 
settling  in  Virginia  and  further  south,  where  they  likewise  estab- 
lished churches  at  an  early  day.  In  the  surroundings  of  the 
Conestoga  church,  the  case  was  pretty  much  the  same,  as  many 
left  there  also  to  seek  for  cheaper  homes  elsewhere,  going  mostly 
to  Maryland,  and  settled  within  the  limits  of  the  present  old 
Pike  Creek  and  Beaver  Dam  churches.  The  most  prominent 
among  these  was  the  above-mentioned  Daniel  Seiler,  whose  pos- 
terity constituted  the  leading  members  of  those  churches  for  many 
years ;  and  as  he  came  from  a  church  that  had  adopted  the  double 
mode,  it  is  quite  natural  that  he  took  that  mode  with  him  to 
Maryland,  as    we    suppose    the   others    also    did   to   the    places 


DOCTRINAL.  225 

whithersoever  they  went,  which  accounts  for  the  early  introduc- 
tion and  practice  of  it  in  those  localities,  especially  in  those 
churches  that  were  planted  by  them.  By  a  careful  research  I 
rind  that  nearly  all  the  churches  that  sprung  from  them  adopted 
the  double  mode,  and  so  strenuously  did  they  adhere  to  it  as  if 
it  were  of  divine  origin,  while  those  churches  which  descended 
more  direct  from  the  mother  church  of  Germantown  invariably 
practiced  the  single  mode.  And  they  did  establish  many,  as  I  can 
abundantly  show,  in  different  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  in  New  Jer- 
sey, Maryland,  Virginia,  and  in  the  Carolinas,  both  in  North  and 
South,  as  also  in  Georgia.  From  there  they  began  to  "pitch 
their  tents"  westward  into  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  where  they 
became  very  numerous,  until  elders  from  the  north  and  east 
began  to  make  it  their  business  to  interfere  with  their  mode  of 
feet-washing;  and  to  such  an  extent  did  they  interfere,  that  to 
escape  their  fury,  they  found  it  necessary  to  leave  those  settle- 
ments. Consequently,  they  dispersed  throughout  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  and  even  beyond  the  Mississippi,  until  they  reached  what 
was  then  called  the  Black  Hawk  purchase,  now  Jefferson  County, 
Iowa,  and  established  the  single  mode  wherever  they  went.  But 
they  were  nowhere  allowed  to  enjoy  their  peace  long,  until  they 
were  assailed  for  their  single  mode.  Several  were  coerced 
against  their  will  to  accept  the  double  mode,  and  they  even  went 
so  far  as  to  disown  whole  churches  that  would  not  submit,  of 
which  I  could  give  a  number  of  instances  in  detail,  but  charity 
forbids.  On  account  of  the  great  opposition  that  was  every- 
where exerted  against  the  single  mode,  it  declined  very  fast.  For 
these  "lords  over  God's  heritage"  did  also  forbid  to  organize  any 
more  churches  in  the  single  mode,  and  in  consequence  of  their 
persistent  opposition,  many  that  were  organized  in  that  way 
finally  changed,  some  because  they  were  almost  compelled  to  it. 
Some,  perhaps,  voluntarily,  after  being  made  to  believe  that  it 
was  indifferent,  and  so  much  more  convenient ;  and  many  for  the 
sake  of  gaining  favor  with  the  elders,  and  being  more  popular 
with  what  came  to  be  the  general  order  of  the  day,  so  that  in 
many  places  where  the  single  mode  was  extensively  practiced  it 

15 


226  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

became  nearly  extinct,  so  that  it  is  now  a  matter  of  history  and 
a  surprise  to  the  rising  generation  to  hear  that  it  was  once  so 
prevalent.  But  I  am  happy  to  say  that  the  adversary's  counter- 
feit is  fast  losing  ground  again,  and  the  true  mode  is  being  estab- 
lished almost  everywhere,  for  many  of  the  churches  in  the  east 
and  some  in  the  south  and  west  are  beginning  to  see  their  error, 
and  are  now  striving  to  recover  the  "old  landmarks"  of  their 
fathers,  after  the  example  of  our  great  law-giver,  Jesus  Christ. 

In  conclusion  I  would  say,  that  even  our  old  Indian  Creek 
church  here,  which  was  so  long  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
mother  church  of  Germantown,  was  also  duped  to  the  double  mode 
about  seventy-five  years  ago,  after  the  good  old  fathers  had 
dropped  off,  and  practiced  it  that  way  until  about  ten  years  ago, 
when  we  asserted  our  Christian  liberty,  and  changed  back  again 
to  the  original  single  mode. 

I  hope  this  may  be  sufficient  to  convince  any  impartial  reader 
that  the  mother  church  of  Germantown  really  had  "offspring," 
that  the  "Conestoga  is  not  her  sister,"  and  that  the  double  mode 
"was  not  practiced  in  all  the  subsequently-organized  churches ;" 
and  also  that  it  is  not  "morally  certain"  that  the  single  mode  "was 
never"  observed  in  "any  other  church,"  except  in  that  of 
Germantown. 

There  are  a  few  more  assertions  in  Brother  Sayler's  article  that 
might  have  been  replied  to,  but  I  hope  truth  will  not  suffer  by 
passing  them  in  silence.  Abram  H.  Cassel. 

MANUSCRIPT   NOTES  BY  ELDER  GEORGE    HOKE. 

The  following  was  printed  in  the  Gospel  Visitor,  in  1864,  with 
the  accompanying  explanation :  "These  notes  were  lately  handed 
to  us  by  his  surviving  widow,  a  beloved  sister  in  the  Lord,  and  we 
hasten  to  give  it  a  place  in  our  columns,  to  preserve  it  from  being 
lost,  and  for  the  edification  of  the  church." 

Deacon  or  minister  is  one  and  the  same  thing  or  office.  Christ 
is  called  a  deacon  or  minister  of  the  circumcision.     Rom.  15:8. 

The  word  "deacon"  can  only  be  found  five  times  in  the  New 


DOCTRINAL.  '  227 

Testament,  once  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  I :  i,  and  four 
times  in  I  Tim.  3  :  8,  10,  12,  13. 

The  word  "deacon"  can  not  be  found  applied  to  those  seven,  or 
any  one  of  them,  in  Acts  6,  or  in  any  place  of  the  New  Testament. 

Distribution. — It  is  very  plain  to  be  seen  from  Acts  2  :  45  ; 
4:35,  37,  and  5:2,  that  previous  to  the  dispute  which  arose  in 
the  church,  or  the  murmuring  of  the  Grecians  against  the 
Hebrews  (about  or)  in  the  neglect  of  their  widows  in  the  daily 
ministrations,  when  any  money  was  given,  it  was  laid  at  the  apos- 
tles' feet,  and  distribution  was  made,  as  every  man  had  need, 
there  must  have  been  those  that  made  them  (or  it).  Tables  were 
served  before  the  dispute  arose,  as  well  as  after  the  seven  were 
chosen  and  installed  into  office. 

Now  upon  such  an  important  complaint,  if  the  apostles  had  to 
investigate  the  matter,  it  would  have  drawn  their  attention  from 
preaching  the  Word. 

Therefore,  the  apostle  said,  "Look  ye  out  among  you  seven 
men  of  honest  report,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  wisdom  [of 
course  of  the  first  class],  whom  we  may  appoint  over  this  busi- 
ness," now  in  dispute,  of  course,  in  the  church. 

Who  can  say  aught  but  that  those  seven  brethren  may  have 
been  some  of  the  seventy  disciples,  whom  Christ  Himself  had 
appointed  and  sent  out  to  preach  and  to  heal  the  sick,  etc.,  whereas 
Stephen,  one  of  the  seven  brethren  chosen  and  installed  into 
office  in  Acts  6:6,  did  begin  (see  verse  8  of  the  same  chapter), 
to  preach,  and  did  great  wonders  and  miracles  among  the  peo- 
ple;  kept  (continued)  preaching  unto  them  with  power,  until  he 
was  stoned  to  death.  See  Acts  6,  from  verse  8  to  the  end  of  chap- 
ter 7. 

Philip,  another  one  of  those  seven  brethren  chosen  in  Acts 
6 : 6,  and  installed  into  office,  went  down  to  the  city  of  Samaria, 
and  preached  unto  them  Christ ;  also  did  miracles,  cast  out  unclean 
spirits,  healed  the  palsied  and  lame,  and  baptized,  etc.  Acts 
8 :  5-7,  37,  38,  40.  This  same  Philip  is  also  called  an  evangelist, 
an  office  next  to  the  apostles,  by  Paul  and  his  company.  See 
Acts  21 : 8. 


228  HISTORY     OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Now,  from  the  Word  it  appears  without  any  contradiction  that 
those  seven  chosen  by  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  were  at  least  next 
to  the  apostles  in  office,  as  can  be  seen  by  the  acts,  deeds,  and 
miracles  done  (performed)  by  them;  I  say  again,  were  called 
evangelists,  but  have  never  been  called  deacons ;  no,  not  even  one 
of  the  seven  by  the  Word. 

Paul  says  (2  Cor.  12:12),  "The  signs  of  an  apostle  were 
wrought  among  you  in  all  patience,  in  signs  and  wonders,  and 
mighty  deeds."  These  were  wrought  by  Paul,  who  was  not 
of  the  original  twelve. 

The  apostle  Paul  says  thus  to  the  Ephesians  (chapter  4:11,  12), 
"And  He  [Christ]  gave  some,  apostles;  and  some,  prophets;  and 
some,  evangelists ;  and  some,  pastors  and  teachers ;  for  the  per- 
fecting of  the  saints,"  etc. 

Paul  to  the  Corinthian  brethren,  enumerating  the  offices  in  the 
church  of  Christ,  says :  "God  has  set  some  in  the  church,  first 
apostles,  secondarily  prophets,  thirdly  teachers,  after  that  mir- 
acles, then  gifts  of  healing,  helps,  governments,  diversities  of 
tongues."     I  Cor.  12:28. 

We  can  plainly  see  from  the  aforesaid  scripture  passages  of 
the  New  Testament,  that  those  seven  brethren  chosen  by  the 
church  and  set  before  the  apostles  to  be  installed  into  their  offices 
in  Acts  6:6  (or  their  office),  must  have  been  remarkably  dif- 
ferent from  the  office  of  our  visiting  brethren  or  overseers  of  the 
poor,  as  they  have  ever  been  set  apart  by  the  church  of  the  old 
brethren,  which  they  have  again  established  upon  the  Word  of 
God  in  these  United  States  something  near  a  century  and  a  half 
ago,  and  has,  down  to  the  present  time,  been  kept  up  by  all  the 
churches,  with  few  exceptions,  in  the  manner  laid  down  by  the 
old  brethren  aforesaid  agreeably  to  the  gospel. 

Our  visiting  brethren  or  overseers  of  the  poor,  when  put  in 
their  office,  are  not  commanded  to  go  and  preach  the  gospel,  but 
their  duty  merely  is,  to  visit  the  sick  and  the  poor,  to  have  charge 
of  the  church  treasury,  and  serve  tables  at  the  communion.  It 
is  even  not  required  of  them  to  rise  in  public  meeting,  when  they 


DOCTRINAL.  229 

bear  a  testimony  to  the  Word  preached  or  spoken  by  the  speakers 
(ministers  of  the  Word)  in  the  church. 

The  old  brethren  have,  therefore,  always  done,  and  do  yet, 
when  a  choice  is  made  in  a  church,  and  they  are  set  before  the 
elders,  either  for  speakers  or  visiting  brethren,  that  is,  then  they 
are  instructed  in  the  order  of  the  house  of  God,  and  in  their  duty 
in  their  several  offices,  and  then  they  are  received  by  the  old 
brethren,  and  afterward  by  the  whole  church  by  the  hand  and  kiss. 

Old  teachers,  when  they  are  to  be  set  apart  for  a  special  pur- 
pose, or  to  be  ordained,  are  to  be  placed  before  two  or  three 
ordained  elders,  one  of  whom  will  lay  down  the  duty  of  his  office 
as  an  established,  ordained  minister  in  the  church  or  house  of 
God,  and  those  that  officiate  lay  their  hands  on  him  and  pray,  and 
then  he  is  also  received  by  the  whole  church  then  present  by 
hand  and  kiss,  and  is  thus  ordained  "in  the  church  of  the  living 
God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth."     I  Tim.  3:  15. 

Laying  On  of  Hands  at  Baptism. — See  Acts  8:  17;  19:5,  6; 
Heb.  6:2. 

Laying  On  of  Hands  in  Ordaining  or  Setting  Apart  Ministers. 
— See  Acts  6:6;   13:3;   1  Tim.  4 :  14,  and  5  :  22. 

Laying  On  of  Hands  on  the  Sick. — Acts  28 :  8 ;  James  5  :  14-16 ; 
Mark  16:  18. 

Laying  On  of  Hands  by  Violence. — John  7:30;  8:20;  Acts 
4:3;   5-  18;  21:27. 

Laying  On  of  Hands. — A  similar  circumstance  in  the  Bible, 
where  Moses  was  commanded  by  the  Lord,  saying,  "Thou  shalt 
bring  the  Levites  before  the  Lord,  and  the  children  of  Israel  shall 
put  their  hands  upon  the  Levites."  Num.  8:9,  10.  The  number 
then  of  the  Levites  was  twenty-two  thousand  (Num.  3:  39),  and 
the  number  of  the  Israelites  was  six  hundred  and  three  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  fifty,  who  were  commanded  to  lay  their 
hands  on  the  twenty-two  thousand  Levites,  which,  the  Word  says, 
they  did  according  to  the  command  of  the  Lord.     Chapter  8 :  20. 

On  the  Lord's  Supper. — John  13:2.  Whether  supper  being 
literally  ended,  or  only  ready  and  prepared,  or  served  on  the  table 
before   feet-washing?     Some   translators   give   it,   supper   being 


23O  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

finished  ;  some,  supper  being  ended  ;  some,  supper  being  prepared  ; 
and  some,  supper  being  done.  But  I  can  not  find  anywhere  in  the 
New  Testament,  that  supper  was  served  on  the  table  before  feet- 
washing. 

Matthew  writes,  "Go  and  make  ready,  or  prepare  ;  and  they 
made  ready."  Matt.  26:17-19.  Mark  records  words  to  the 
same  amount.  Mark  14:12;  15:16.  Luke,  also,  22:8,  9, 
12,  13.  John  says  (chapter  13:4),  "He  riseth  from  supper," 
which  we  understand  from  the  prepared  supper.  As  all  the  other 
three  say  nothing  about  feet-washing,  so  I  can  find  nothing  that 
the  supper  was  served  on  the  table  before  feet-washing. 

Since  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  say  nothing  of  feet-washing, 
but  merely  mention  (Matt.  26 :  20) ,  "When  the  evening  was  come, 
He  sat  down  with  the  twelve;  Mark  14:  17,  "In  the  evening  He 
cometh  with  the  twelve ;"  Luke  22 :  14,  "And  when  the  hour 
was  come,  He  sat  down,  and  the  twelve  apostles  with  Him." 

But  after  Jesus  had  washed  the  disciples'  feet,  He  asked  them, 
"Know  ye  what  I  have  done  unto  you?"  In  this  He  had  shown 
them  by  His  example.  He  then  began  to  command  them  to 
observe  the  ordinance  of  feet-washing.  Peter  did  not  know 
what  use  it  was  for ;  but  in  giving  the  command  Jesus  gave  other 
instructions  (John  13:26),  when  He  dipped  the  sop  and  gave  it 
to  Judas  at  supper.  This  took  some  time, — from  the  time  He  rose 
from  the  table,  and  washed  their  feet,  then  seated  Himself  again, 
and  commanded  them  how  to  do  it,  and  observe  the  ordinance ; 
and  shortly  before  His  ascension  He  commanded  them  again, 
"Teach  them  to  observe  all  things,  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you."  Matt.  28 :  20.  When  we  are  commanded  to  do  a  certain 
thing,  reason  and  Scripture  will  give  us  time  to  do  it  in,  as  every- 
thing in  the  house  of  God  was  to  be  done  in  order. 

Jesus  says,  "Ye  ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet."  In  Ger- 
man, "So  sollet  ihr  audi  cuch  untereinander  die  Fucsze  zvaschcn," 
that  is,  Ye  shall  wash  feet  among  yourselves. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  patriarchs  of  old  to  wash  feet  always 
before  victuals  were  served  on  the  table,  as  Abraham,  Gen. 
18*4,  5;    Lot,  chapter  0:9:2,  3;    Bethuel,  chapter  24:32,   33; 


DOCTRINAL.  23 1 

Joseph,  chapter  43  :  24,  25.     Some  more  testimonies  see  hereafter. 
On  Fasting. — As  some  think,  there  is  no  command  to  fast.     See 
Matt.    6:16,    17;    17:21;   Acts    13:2,3;    14:23;    1  Cor.  7:5; 
2  Cor.  6 :  5. 

On  the  First  Resurrection. — See  Matt.  24:31;  Rev.  14:1-5; 
20:4-7;    1  Thess.  4:  15-17;  1  Cor.  15:20,  23-25,  51,  52. 

"If  I  tarry  long,  that  thou  may  est  know  how  thou  oughtest  to 
behave  thyself  in  the  house  of  God,  which  is  the  church  of  the 
living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth."     1  Tim.  8:  15. 

Easter. — The  festival  of  the  goddess  Eostre,  worshiped  by 
Pagans,  was  six  days  after  the  Jewish  Passover,  and  why  so  called 
is  from  the  Saxons.  But  why  translated  or  called  Easter  in  Acts 
12:4,  in  our  English  New  Testament,  is  not  known  certainly. 
Never  anywhere  else  is  the  name  Easter  found  in  the  English 
Bible,  but  always  called  the  Passover,  or  feast  of  Passover. 
Acts  12:4. 

Matthew  wrote  his  gospel  about  a.  d.  44 ;  Mark  also  in  44 ; 
Luke  wrote  his  in  55,  and  the  Acts  in  63  ;  John  wrote  his  gospel 
in  97,  his  epistles  in  66,  and  the  Revelation  in  96.  He  died  about 
a.  d.  99,  aged  ninety-two  years. 

Any  brother  or  brethren  wishing  to  have  any  order  changed  in 
the  church,  as  a  matter  of  course  he  or  they  should  find  and  show 
by  the  Word,  that  the  order  heretofore  (observed)  kept  up  by 
the  churches  was  not  in  accordance  with  the  Word. 

The  general  council  meetings  (annual  meetings,  etc.)  are  not 
instituted  by  the  apostles  (see  Acts  15)  for  debating  (or  dis- 
cussing) meetings,  but  to  bring  things  in  a  union  of  spirit  and 
of  soul,  according  to  the  Word  of  God. 

Christ  said  to  Simon  the  Pharisee,  when  seated  at  the  served 
table  in  the  Pharisee's  house,  "Thou  gavest  Me  no  water  for  My 
feet."  Now  had  it  been  the  custom  to  set  victuals  on  the  table 
before  feet-washing,  he  would  not  have  faulted  Simon  as  yet. 
Simon  could  have  told  Him,  It  is  a-coming,  or,  It  will  soon  be 
here.     Luke  7 :  44. 

Feet-washing  was  always  practiced  before  the  meal  was  put  on 
the  table.     See  above  and  examples  of  the  patriarchs. 


232  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

The  Lord  Jesus  sent  out  His  disciples  two  by  two.  See  Luke 
10:1;  James  5:14;  Mark  16:8;  Peter  and  John,  Acts  3:1; 
Paul  and  Barnabas,  Acts  13:2. 

The  brethren's  practice  in  feet-washing  was  the  same.  They 
went  two  by  two,  and  one  to  wash  and  the  other  to  wipe,  each 
saluting-  with  the  kiss  of  charity. 

They  were  sent  two  by  two.  Mark  6 :  7.  The  twelve  apostles 
were  thus  sent,  and  so  were  the  seventy.     Mark  6:7;  Luke  10 : 1. 

FORM    OF    WORSHIP. 

In  order  to  afford  the  readers  of  church  history,  in  the  coming 
generations,  a  full  account  of  these  peculiar  and  interesting  peo- 
ple, I  will  devote  this  chapter  to  a  detailed  statement  of  their 
faith  and  practice. 

I  had  intended  in  this  connection  to  publish  the  contents  of  a 
pamphlet  entitled,  "Doctrines  and  Duties,  or  Faith  and  Practice 
of  the  Tunkers,"  by  J.  W.  Beer,  and  had  obtained  permission 
from  the  author  to  do  so,  but  can  not  find  room  within  the  allotted 
compass  of  this  work. 

In  the  first  place,  what  they  believe  and  teach  may  be  compre- 
hended in  the  statement  that  they  accept  the  New  Testament  as 
their  creed  and  discipline.  That  is,  the  New  Testament  as  it  is, 
and  not  as  they  would  have  it,  or  as  they  understand  it,  but  as  it 
reads.  They  believe  that  the  Book  is  inspired  of  God ,  has  been 
preserved  by  His  almighty  power,  and  translated  into  the  vari- 
ous languages  through  His  direct  instrumentality ;  that  the  Book 
means  what  it  says,  and  says  what  it  means,  nothing  more  and 
nothing  less,  and  is  not  to  be  added  to  nor  taken  from,  and  will 
suffer  no  deviations.  That  is  Tunkerism,  briefly  but  accurately 
stated. 

The  application  of  the  principles  embraced  in  the  above  state- 
ment must,  of  course,  depend  upon  the  intelligence  of  its  adher- 
ents. The  same  is  true  of  the  student  or  teacher  of  any  science  in 
the  use  of  any  text-book. 

First  we  will  relate  their  method  of  selecting  their  ministers. 


DOCTRINAL.  233 

ELECTION    OF    OFFICERS. 

When  it  is  discovered  by  the  congregation  that  more  preachers 
are  required  to  perform  the  duties  expected  of  the  ministry,  the 
elder  and  his  colaborers,  ministers,  and  deacons  hold  counsel 
among  themselves  as  to  the  proper  course  to  be  taken.  When 
they  have  agreed  upon  a  plan  of  procedure,  the  matter  is  sub- 
mitted to  the  church  in  open  council.  The  usual  manner  is  to 
call  a  council  after  the  regular  preaching  service,  where  a  number 
of  appointments  are  held  in  the  same  congregation.  If  a  reason- 
able unanimity  of  sentiment  prevails,  the  time  and  place  are 
agreed  upon  and  announced.  This  is  usually  fixed  at  the  time 
of  communion,  when  ministers  from  a  distance  are  expected.  It 
is  necessary,  according  to  the  usages  of  the  church,  for  at  least 
one  ordained  elder  to  be  present  when  church  officers  are  to  be 
chosen. 

The  business  session  generally  follows  the  forenoon  service. 
Public  statement  is  made,  and  the  members  are  instructed  and 
admonished  as  to  their  duties  and  privileges.  All  members,  male 
and  female,  have  the  privilege  of  franchise ;  and  all  male  mem- 
bers are  eligible  to  office,  but  only  those  in  the  order  can  be 
installed  or  ordained.  This  means,  among  the  German  Baptists, 
that  he  must  wear  his  hair  and  clothing  after  a  certain  prescribed 
fashion,  and  of  late  that  he  must  not  use  tobacco  as  a  habit,  and 
must  also  possess  the  scriptural  qualifications  for  the  duties 
required  by  his  office. 

An  election  board  is  agreed  upon  by  the  officials  present.  These 
are  stationed  in  a  booth,  generally  the  kitchen  or  in  the  attic.  All 
the  members  are  then  expected  to  come  before  this  board,  one 
at  a  time,  and  cast  their  ballot  for  whomsoever  they  may  wish, 
having  been  cautioned  to  make  the  subject  a  matter  of  prayer, 
and  to  avoid  electioneering. 

If  a  member  should  not  be  able  to  make  up  his  mind  in  favor  of 
any  one,  he  may  be  excused.  I  have  assisted  on  occasions  when 
one  candidate  was  far  ahead  of  all  others,  when  the  question  was 

put  to  such  undecided  persons,  "Will  you  be  satisfied  if 

should  be  elected  ?" 


234  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

In  cases  of  advancements  the  question  is  generally  asked,  "Are 

you  agreed  that  shall  be  advanced  to  the  second  degree 

of  the  ministry  ?"  Or,  if  a  bishop  is  desired,  "to  the  full  minis- 
try, or  eldership?" 

In  all  the  divisions  of  the  Tunker  fraternity  unanimity  is  sought 
for  in  all  church  work.  In  the  election  of  church  officers  a 
majority  of  voices  has  lately  been  required;  formerly  a  plurality 
would  answer.  It  is  not  deemed  prudent  to  ordain  a  brother  if  a 
respectable  minority  opposed  his  appointment. 

The  votes  having  been  counted,  everybody  is  expectant  until 
the  announcement  of  the  result  has  been  made.  This  is  usually 
done  after  the  opening  of  the  next  session.  The  officiating  elder 
may  be  expected  to  say,  after  having  introduced  the  subject: 
"While  the  choice  was  not  unanimous,  which  scarcely  ever  occurs, 
I  am  happy  to  say  that  the  result  of  the  election  still  shows  that  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  has  been  in  the  work.  The  choice  of  the 
church,  by  a  respectful  majority,  is  in  favor  of  Brother ." 

In  some  congregations  the  duties  of  the  officers  chosen  are  first 
stated  before  announcement  is  made.  Those  who  practice  this 
method  believe  that  closer  attention  will  be  given  to  the  state- 
ments of  the  duties  required  by  the  newly-elected  party  while  his 
nerves  are  yet  undisturbed  by  the  knowledge  that  he  is  the  party 
who  is  to  take  on  himself  the  grave  responsibilities. 

The  person  or  persons  who  have  been  elected  and  named  are 
then  requested  to  come  forward.  Having  been  suitably  seated,  he 
is  required  to  promise  to  conform  to  the  order  of  the  church,  as 
stated  before.  If  his  promises  are  satisfactory,  the  installation 
will  follow.  In  the  German  Baptist  Church  the  following  form 
is  used : — 

"Dear  Brother:  Your  duties,  while  in  the  first  degree  of  the 
ministry,  are  not  very  onerous.  The  church  authorizes  you  to 
exhort  and  to  preach  as  an  assistant  to  the  elder  and  older  min- 
isters, as  they  may  give  you  liberty  to  do.  It  is  your  duty,  how- 
ever, faithfully  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  church,  and,  when 
liberty  is  given,  to  exhort  or  preach,  and  do  it  humbly,  and  will- 
ingly, and  faithfully,  as  the  Lord  will  afford  you  grace  to  do. 


DOCTRINAL.  235 

But  should  it  happen  that  none  of  the  older  ministering  brethren 
should  come  to  the  regular  appointment,  then  it  will  be  your 
duty,  and  you  are  hereby  authorized  to  conduct  the  meeting 
according  to  the  usual  order  of  the  brethren,  to  the  best  of  your 
ability,  and  to  announce  the  regular  appointments.  But  you  have 
no  authority  to  make  or  announce  any  appointments  on  your  own 
private  account.  In  case,  however,  you  are  called  to  preach  on 
a  funeral  occasion,  you  are  at  liberty,  and  are  hereby  authorized, 
to  go  and  conduct  the  services  according  to  the  usual  order  of  the 
brethren.  And  it  is  thought  good  that  the  elder  and  older  min- 
istering brethren  should  be  liberal  in  giving  you  liberty  to  preach, 
and  not  always  confine  you  to  the  closing  services,  or  you  may 
not  soon  learn  to  be  a  "workman  of  God,  that  needs  not  to  be 
ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth." 

As  a  confirmation,  the  minister  and  his  wife,  if  a  married  man, 
are  then  told  to  stand  up,  and  all  the  members  present  are  invited 
and  expected  to  come  forward  and  extend  the  Christian  salutation 
to  the  newly-elected  minister.      (See  Glossary.) 

In  the  Brethren  Church  all  officers  of  the  church  are  installed 
by  imposition  of  hands,  which  they  regard  as  a  means  of  grace, 
and  not  as  a  token  of  distinction. 

When  a  minister  is  to  be  advanced  to  the  second  degree,  the 
process  of  election  having  been  performed,  the  candidate  is 
required  to  reaffirm  his  satisfaction  with  the  church  and  the 
decisions  of  the  annual  meeting,  and  to  conform  to  its  rules. 
That  having  been  done,  the  following  form  of  installation  may  be 
used : — 

"Dear  Brother  (naming  him)  :  The  church  having  called  you 
into  the  first  degree  of  the  ministry,  and  on  trial  has  confidence 
in  your  fidelity  and  integrity,  now  proposes  to  advance  you  into 
the  second  degree,  and  thereby  your  labors  will  be  increased,  and 
your  duties  will  become  more  onerous,  and  will  require  a  greater 
sacrifice  on  your  part.  The  church  now  authorizes  you  to  appoint 
meetings  for  preaching,  according  to  the  general  order  of  the 
brethren,  to  administer  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  and,  in  the 
absence  of  an  elder,  to  take  the  counsel  of  the  church  on  the 


236  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

admission  of  an  applicant  for  baptism,  to  serve  the  communion 
in  the  absence  of  any  elder,  or  at  his  or  their  request,  if  present ; 
to  solemnize  the  rite  of  marriage  according  to  the  laws  of  the  state 
and  the  usages  of  the  church ;  in  brief,  to  perform  all  the  duties 
of  an  ordained  elder,  except  that  you  have  no  authority  to  install 
officers  in  the  church,  neither  by  giving  a  charge,  as  I  am  now 
doing,  nor  by  laying  on  hands  in  ordaining  a  brother  into  the  full 
degree  of  the  ministry.  You  have  also  no  authority  to  preside 
in  the  council  meetings  of  the  church  in  which  official  members  of 
the  church  are  to  be  dealt  with.  You  have  no  authority  to  go 
into  the  acknowledged  territory  of  any  organized  church  to  make 
appointments  for  preaching,  unless  called  by  the  elder  or  council 
of  said  church.  It  is  an  assumption  of  authority  for  an  ordained 
elder  to  do  so.  But  be  it  understood  that  while  the  church  now 
invests  you  with  rights  and  privileges,  she  still  holds  you  to  the 
apostolic  injunction,  'Ye  younger,  submit  yourselves  unto  the 
elder;  yea,  all  of  you  be  subject  one  to  another,  and  be  clothed 
with  humility ;  for  God  resisteth  the  proud,  and  giveth  grace  to 
the  humble'  (1  Peter  5:5),  and  will  hold  you  amenable  to  her 
councils.  And  if  you  manifest  an  arbitrary  self-will  and  dom- 
ineering spirit,  the  same  authority  which  now  gives  you  these 
privileges,  will,  if  need  requires  it,  suspend  you,  and  take  from 
you  all  authority  she  now  gives  you/' 

The  same  ceremony  that  was  used  at  the  time  of  his  induction 
to  the  first  degree  will  now  follow,  that  is,  the  Christian  salutation. 

ORDINATION     OF     ELDERS. 

Every  congregation  of  the  Tunkers  should  have  at  least  one 
elder  or  bishop.  If  an  elder  is  chosen  at  the  time  of  the  organ- 
ization of  a  church,  the  congregation  may  take  action  in  the  case 
in  connection  with  the  election  of  their  other  officers. 

In  addition  to  the  choice  of  the  church  the  candidate  for  bishop 
must  also  pass  the  approval  of  the  board  of  adjoining  elders,  who 
usually  preside  at  the  election.  Having  passed  the  examination, 
he  is  ordained  according  to  the  following  form  : — 

"Dear  Brother  A.  B. :  The  church  having  called  you  to  the 


DOCTRINAL.  237 

ministry  of  the  Word,  and,  on  trial,  found  you  faithful  in  your 
calling,  now  proposes  to  advance  you  to  the  full  ministry  by 
ordaining-  you  an  elder,  or  bishop,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  by 
the  presbytery.  In  ordaining  you  an  elder,  the  church  gives  you 
all  the  rights  and  authority  belonging  to  the  ministry,  such  as 
presiding  in  council  meetings,  in  which  official  members  are  tried, 
at  home  or  abroad,  if  you  are  called  to  do  so,  in  district  or  annual 
meetings ;  to  give  the  charge  to  deacons,  or  ministers,  and  install 
them  into  their  respective  offices.  In  short,  the  church  now 
invests  you  with  all  the  rights  and  authority  belonging  to  the 
eldership,  you  being  equal  with  all  the  elders.  This  phrase,  never- 
theless, in  the  apostolic  injunction,  'Ye  younger,  submit  your- 
selves to  the  elder,'  still  applies  to  you ;  and  should  you  manifest 
an  arbitrary,  self-willed,  and  domineering  spirit,  the  church  will 
hold  you  subject  to  her  councils,  and  suspend  you,  and  take  from 
you  all  the  authority  she  now  gives  you,  and  again  reduce  you  to 
the  laity,  or  even  expel  you  from  membership  if  necessary. 

"It  will  be  your  duty  to  faithfully  preach  the  Word,  and  to  care 
for  the  wants  of  all  the  membership,  being  yourself  an  example 
to  the  church  in  all  holiness  and  purity  of  heart,  walking  in  all 
the  commandments  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord  blameless.  It 
will  be  your  duty  in  all  the  affairs  of  the  church  to  counsel  with 
your  official  brethren  and  with  the  church,  taking  the  oversight 
not  by  constraint,  but  willingly ;  not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready 
mind,  and  in  no  way  to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage.  The  church 
will  not  allow  you  to  depart  from  the  order  of  the  general  brother- 
hood in  faith  and  practice,  but  will  hold  you  to  the  faith  and  prac- 
tice of  the  Scriptures  as  defined  by  the  brethren  in  annual  meeting 
assembled. 

"Now,  dear  Brother  A.  B.,  do  you  willingly  accept  the  position 
into  which  the  church  now  proposes  to  put  you?  And  do  you, 
in  good  faith,  without  any  mental  reservation,  accept  and  adopt 
all  the  order  and  practice  of  the  general  brotherhood,  in  her  plain- 
ness of  dress  and  non-conformity  to  the  world?  And  do  you 
promise  to  unite  your  labors  with  all  your  faithful  brethren,  every- 


238  HISTORY     OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

where,  to  observe  and  enforce  all  the  faith  and  practice  of  the 
general  brotherhood  ?" 

After  having  been  instructed,  the  initiate  is  asked  to  kneel 
down,  and  the  officiating  elder  will  lay  his  left  hand  on  the  uncov- 
ered head  of  the  candidate,  while  his  assistant  lays  one  hand  on 
the  elder's,  which  is  covered  by  the  bishop's  right  hand,  if  only 
two  elders  are  engaged  in  the  work,  and  then  the  assistant's  sec- 
ond hand  is  laid  on  last  of  all.  Then  follow  solemn  invocations 
and  prayer  for  the  blessings  of  heaven,  such  as  may  be  suggested 
on  the  occasion,  no  especial  form  being  required.  And  again,  the 
Christian  salutation  is  introduced  as  an  act  of  confirmation. 

In  cases  of  the  organization  of  a  church  where  all  the  officers 
have  been  chosen,  the  confirmation  of  all  will  occur  at  the  same 
time  ;  the  candidates,  standing  in  line,  accompanied  by  their  wives, 
the  highest  in  office  standing  at  the  head  of  the  line,  will  be 
received  by  the  salutation  as  described  above. 

DEACONS. 

The  ceremony  attending  the  election  of  deacons  is  the  same 
as  that  of  ministers.  The  charge  and  installation  are  performed 
according  to  the  following  form  : — 

"1.  Dear  brother:  It  is  your  duty  to  visit  and  oversee  the  poor 
in  the  church ;  also  to  assist  and  attend  to  the  annual  general 
visit  made  from  house  to  house,  prior  to  communion  occasions. 

"2.  When  things  of  importance  are  to  be  investigated,  it  is  your 
duty,  when  requested,  to  accompany  the  minister,  or  you  may  be 
sent  alone  to  investigate  the  matter  and  report  to  the  minister. 

"3.  It  is  your  duty  to  visit  the  sick,  the  poor,  and  distressed, 
and  report  their  condition,  that  their  wants  may  be  attended  to. 
In  all  their  administrations  a  correct  account  should  be  kept,  and 
a  report  made  to  the  church. 

"4.  It  is  your  duty  to  assist  the  minister,  when  called  upon,  bv 
reading  the  Scriptures,  leading  in  prayer,  and  in  bearing  testi- 
mony to  what  has  been  said  by  the  minister.  When  no  minister 
is  present,  it  is  your  duty  to  take  charge  of  the  meeting  by  sing- 


DOCTRINAL.  239 

ing,  prayer,  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  also  to  exhort,  if  it  can 
be  done  to  the  edification  of  the  congregation. 

"5.  It  is  your  duty,  at  times  of  communions,  to  see  that  the 
necessary  preparations  are  made,  that  the  tables  are  served,  and 
that  everything  is  attended  to  in  proper  time  and  order." 

In  the  Brethren  Church,  deacons  and  their  wives  (when  the 
sisters  possess  the  proper  qualifications)  are  installed  by  the  same 
ceremony, — the  imposition  of  hands.  In  justification  of  such 
procedure  they  refer  to  Acts  6:  1-6. 

TUNKER     MEETING. 

Regular  preaching  at  a  Tunker  meeting  at  the  present  time  is 
conducted  much  like  that  of  other  denominations.  Until  about 
twenty  years  ago  the  following  practice  was  almost  universal : — 

The  ministers  were  expected  to  take  their  seats  behind  the  table 
in  rotation,  according  to  their  official  ranks,  the  bishop  at  the  head. 
It  was  expected  of  the  bishop,  when  present,  to  introduce  the 
service,  either  in  person  or  by  direction.  The  latter  was  usually 
done  by  saying,  "Brethren,  it  is  time  to  open  the  meeting,  and  I 
wish  freedom."  If  the  next  in  office  felt  moved  to  accept  the 
liberty,  it  was  his  privilege.  If  not,  he  would  extend  the  liberty 
down  the  line,  and  so  on  until  some  one  would  accept  the  offer.* 

*  Note. — An  instance:  At  a  regular  appointment  in  my  home  church,  at  a 
point  where  usually  from  six  to  eight  ministers  were  present,  the  senior 
elder  extended  the  liberty  by  saying  he  had  nothing  on  his  mind.  The 
assistant  made  the  same  declaration,  which  was  repeated  by  number  three. 
My  place  was  about  fourth  or  fifth.  When  it  came  my  turn,  I  said  aloud, 
"Well,  brethren,"  I  can  wish  the  freedom,  but  I  can  not  say  that  I  have 
nothing  on  my  mind;  in  fact,  I'd  be  ashamed  to  say  so,  if  it  were  the  case." 
In  response,  a  deacon  directly  in  front  of  me  remarked  aloud,  "  That's  so." 
When  it  occurred  to  him  what  he  had  done,  he  acted  as  if  he  wished  he 
were  under  the  table. 

I  then  rose  and  said:  "  I  presume  I'm  in  for  it  now.  First,  permit  me  to 
explain.  According  to  our  method,  nobody  knows  who  is  to  preach  at  this 
appointment,  there  being  generally  from  six  to  eight  of  us  present.  I  make 
it  a  rule  of  my  life  whenever  I  attend  any  of  our  appointments,  to  go  pre- 
pared to  preach,  so  that  in  case  I  should  be  called  upon,  I  may  not  be  put 
to  shame  by  making  a  bungled  effort;   but  I  do  not  have  to  preach  every 


24O  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


The  first  service  consisted  of  announcing,  lining,  and  singing 
of  a  hymn.  This  was  followed  with  an  exhortation  to  prayer, 
varying  in  length  and  strength  according  to  the  mental  caliber 
and  sense  of  propriety  of  the  exhorter.  Prayer  followed,  which 
was  always  in  a  kneeling  posture.  Two  persons  were  required  to 
lead  in  prayer,  in  succession,  the  latter  invariably  closing  with 
the  Lord's  Prayer. 

If  asked  for  reason  for  this  process  the  Tunker  preacher  would 
reply  that  Christ  had  commanded  that  at  the  mouth  of  two  or 
three  witnesses  every  word  should  be  established,  and  that  "when 
ye  pray,  say,  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,"  etc. 

The  preaching  will  depend  upon  the  intelligence  of  the  preacher 
more  than  upon  the  rules  or  customs  of  the  church.  The  report 
here  made  is  intended  to  be  an  average  discourse,  and  is  based 
in  point  of  time  at  about  1850  to  1875. 

The  course  commonly  pursued  consisted  of  an  exposition  of 
the  Bible  ^om  Adam  to  Moses  and  from  Moses  to  John  on  the 
Isle  of  Patmos.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  they  all  dwelt  more 
or  less  lengthily  on  Christ  and  His  commandments,  and  invariably 
closed  with  a  warm  exhortation,  but  scarcely  ever  was  an  invita- 
tion extended  to  the  penitent  sinner. 


CONVERSIONS. 


The  method  of  conversion  among  the  Tunkers  was  peculiar  to 
themselves.  They  were  dreadfully  afraid  of  all  appearance  of 
excitement  or  undue  emotion.  Occasionally  it  was  stated  by  the 
minister  that  if  any  one  felt  a  desire  to  unite  with  the  church,  he 
could  make  it  known  to  any  member  of  his  acquaintance,  who 
would  bring  the  matter  before  the  church.     Even  such  a  state- 


time  I  go  to  church,  simply  because  I  am  prepared  to  do  so.  A  sermon 
will  not  spoil  for  want  of  being  delivered.  It  may  be  salted  down  and 
kept  for  weeks.  More  sermons  are  spoiled  by  premature  delivery  than  by 
being  deferred." 

Then  I  took  my  seat,  again  extending  the  liberty,  which  was  returned  to 
me  by  the  full  board,  with  the  unanimous  consent  of  an  interested  audience, 
probably  in  order  to  test  the  extent  of  my  preparation. 


DOCTRINAL.  24I 

ment  was  seldom  made  in  my  early  experience.  It  was  more  an 
unwritten  rule  known  and  practiced  among  themselves. 

When  a  convert  had  made  application  for  membership  it  was 

stated  to  the  congregation  that  had  made  application 

for  membership  in  the  church,  and  that  if  there  was  any  one 
present  who  knew  of  any  reason  why  he  should  not  be  received 
he  should  make  it  known. 

The  occasion  for  this  announcement  was  owing  to  the  peculiar 
tenets  of  the  Tunkers  in  the  following  particulars : — 

1.  They  did  not  receive  a  person  who  had  been  divorced,  and 
whose  former  partner  was  still  living,  unless  promising  not  to 
marry  again  during  the  life  of  former  partner. 

2.  They  would  not  receive  members  belonging  to  secret 
societies. 

More  generally,  however,  the  congregation  was  requested  to 
withdraw  and  the  members  to  remain  for  counsel.  Then  the  sub- 
ject was  stated  and,  if  no  objection  was  offered,  the  candidate  was 
invited  to  come  in,  when  it  was  stated  to  him  that  his  request  had 
been  laid  before  the  church,  and  that  they  were  all  not  only  will- 
ing but  glad  to  receive  him,  and  that  he  should  now  prepare  him- 
self to  go  to  the  water  for  baptism.  In  some  cases  the  congrega- 
tion was  then  invited  to  come  into  the  church  again,  when  the 
statement  would  be  made,  while  in  other  places  some  one  would 
announce  to  those  outside  that  baptism  would  be  performed  at 
the  appointed  place  immediately. 

Resorting  to  the  water,  a  hymn  was  sung,  and  sometimes  a 
discourse  on  some  phase  of  the  subject  of  baptism  would  be  deliv- 
ered, while  the  candidate  and  elder  were  getting  ready  for  the 
ordinance.  When  all  had  been  assembled,  the  candidate  was 
asked  whether  he  was  familiar  with  the  order  of  the  church  in 
regard  to  non-conformity  to  the  world  in  dress,  non-swearing, 
non-resistance,  etc.  And  whether  he  was  in  unison  with  those 
points.  If  not,  he  was  told  what  they  were  in  detail,  and  then 
asked  whether  he  agreed  with  them,  and  would  promise  to  obey 
the  church  according  to  Matthew  18,  which  had  just  been  read  to 
him. 

16 


242  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

Then  the  administrator  and  the  candidate  would  kneel,  and 
prayer  was  made  for  each  one,  according  to  the  sense  of  pro- 
priety in  the  estimation  of  the  minister  in  charge  of  the  service. 

After  prayer  both  would  go  down  into  the  water,  and  the  can- 
didate would  kneel  so  that  the  water  would  come  to  about  the 
arm  pits.  Then  he  was  asked,  among  the  German  Baptists,  "Do 
you  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  He 
brought  from  heaven  the  saving  gospel?" — "I  do." 

"Do  you  willingly  renounce  Satan,  with  all  his  pernicious  ways, 
together  with  the  sinful  pleasures  of  this  world?" — "I  do." 

"Do  you  covenant  with  God,  through  Christ,  to  be  faithful  unto 
death?"— "I  do." 

"According  to  the  promises  which  you  have  made  before  God 
and  the  world,  you  are  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins,  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

At  the  repetition  of  each  name  of  the  Trinity  the  candidate  is 
immersed,  face  forward,  until  the  entire  body  is  covered  over,  and 
immediately  drawn  back. 

Among  some  elders  a  custom  which  is  called  the  rapid  system 
came  into  use  about  the  seventh  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
By  that  system  the  person  is  dipped  three  times  without  taking 
breath  or  removing  of  the  hands  from  the  face,  which  can  be  done 
without  unnecessary  haste,  when  it  is  expected  by  the  candidate. 

After  the  three  actions  have  been  performed  the  administrator 
lays  both  his  hands  on  the  head  of  the  person  baptized,  and  offers 
substantially  the  following  prayer :  "O  Lord,  we  thank  Thee  that 
thou  hast  caused  this  brother  to  covenant  with  Thee  to  be  faith- 
ful until  death.  Now  we  pray  Thee  to  accept  him  as  Thine  own 
child ;  to  write  his  name  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life  ;  to  blot  out  all 
his  sins  ;  to  fill  his  heart  with  the  Holy  Spirit ;  to  keep  him  faithful 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  through  life,  and  finally  receive  him 
with  all  Thy  people  into  the  everlasting  kingdom.     Amen." 

Then  he  rises  from  the  water,  and  is  received  by  the  minister 
with  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  and  the  salutation  of  the  kiss, 
or,  if  a  woman,  by  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  only. 

As  they  return  to  the  shore  the  candidate  is  met  by  the  church 


DOCTRINAL.  243 

officials  and  members,  and  received  in  accordance  with  the  rules 
of  the  church. 

In  the  Brethren  Church  the  laying  on  of  hands  and  prayer  and 
salutation  are  deferred  until  after  the  parties  have  changed  cloth- 
ing. It  is  generally  observed  at  the  first  meeting  following,  and  is 
termed  confirmation  service.  It  is  believed  that  this  method  is 
more  impressive  to  the  audience,  as  well  as  more  edifying  to  the 
parties  directly  interested.  It  is  also  believed  to  be  more  in 
accord  with  New  Testament  precedent.  See  Acts  19:  1-6.  It  is 
also  made  an  occasion  of  admonition  to  faithfulness  and  steadfast- 
ness in  the  performance  of  the  duties  belonging  to  the  Christian, 
which  could  not  well  be  attended  to  at  the  time  of  baptism. 

A  beautiful  and  highly  important  part  of  the  confirmation  cere- 
mony in  many  of  the  Brethren  congregations,  consists  of  the  pre- 
sentation of  a  copy  of  the  Revised  New  Testament  to  the  new  con- 
vert, with  suitable  inscriptions,  as  the  creed  and  discipline  of  his 
church,  accompanied  with  an  admonition  to  study  it  carefully  and 
implicitly  obey  it  in  all  things.  The  author  of  this  work  com- 
mends the  practice  to  all  the  churches  of  the  brotherhood. 

Among  the  German  Baptists  and  the  Old  German  Baptists,  the 
services  at  the  water  close  the  initiation  of  members. 

THE    TUNKER     MEETING-HOUSE. 

Let  us  now  take  a  look  at  the  old  meeting-house  and  its 
surroundings.  It  usually  stands  in  some  stately  grove  of  old 
oaks,  but  is  not  itself  a  stately  or  imposing  edifice.  It  is  generally 
a  long,  low  building,  capable  of  seating  a  large  congregation,  for 
the  brethren  in  old  times  worshiped  in  barns  or  private  houses 
until  they  were  sure  that  a  house  of  worship  would  be  permanently 
needed,  and  until  they  were  well  able  to  build  large  enough  for 
the  present  and  prospective  population  of  the  community.  The 
old  churches  are  all  pretty  much  of  the  same  style  of  architecture, 
and  adapted  to  large  congregations  and  communion  purposes. 
On  such  occasions  everybody  attended,  saints  and  gentiles.  Nei- 
ther inside  nor  outside  was  a  dollar  spent  for  any  sort  of  ornamen- 
tation.    The  style  of  architecture  was  bare  in  its  simplicity,  and 


244 


HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 


far  removed  from  such  vanities  as  spires,  towers,  stained  win- 
dows, painted  or  cushioned  pews,  ornamental  pulpits,  or  anything 
else  which  could  not  show  the  passport  of  indispensable  utility. 
It  included,  also,  a  kitchen  department,  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
paring the  food  part  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
common  meals,  of  which  more  will  be  said  farther  on.     Many  of 


GROVE    CHURCH,    NEAR    BERLIN,    PA. 

the  old  houses  also  have  a  nursery,  generally  in  the  attic,  and 
supplied  with  beds  and  cradles  for  the  accommodation  of  sisters 
with  young  children  and  the  aged  and  infirm. 

A    SUNDAY    MORNING    SERVICE. 

Let  us  stand  among  the  grand  old  oaks,  and  witness  the  gather- 
ing of  the  faithful.  Evidences  of  rural  prosperity  abound  on 
every  hand.  The  sleek,  gentle  horses  bear  testimony  that  "the 
righteous  man  regardeth  the  life  of  his  beast."  Blessed  is  the 
horse  whose  lot  was  cast  with  a  good  Tunker  farmer.  Trunk  you 
not  that  he  came  to  reflect  the  peaceful,  unworldly,  unambitious, 


DOCTRINAL.  245 

and  contented  temper  of  his  master?  Their  very  looks  and 
actions  were  in  harmony  with  their  belonging.  I  have  seen  a 
hundred  horses  lining  the  fences  or  standing  by  the  great  trees, 
and  heard  the  joyous  neigh  of  recognition  ringing  through  the 
quiet  Sabbath  morn.  There  was  no  discord  in  the  sound.  There 
was  rather  the  harmony  and  sympathy  of  friendship  and  joy, 
almost  human  in  its  intelligence,  and  none  the  less  in  its  sincerity. 
The  very  horses  entered  into  the  fraternal  spirit  of  the  worshipers. 

The  members,  having  alighted  from  their  plain,  almost  rude 
vehicles,  are  greeting  one  another  with  the  holy  kiss.  They  linger 
around  the  church  doors  in  quiet  converse.  It  yet  lacks  ten  min- 
utes of  the  appointed  hour  for  worship,  but  the  worshipers  have 
all  arrived.  There  is  an  unwritten  law  against  the  late  comer 
which  no  discreet  Tunker  will  violate. 

Our  description  concerns  a  typical  Tunker  congregation,  such 
as  could  be  seen  anywhere  in  the  fraternity  about  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Meeting  day,  which  was  usually  only 
once  a  month  at  the  old  church,  was  the  great  Sabbath  of  the 
month.  All  who  were  physically  able  to  be  out,  were  sure  to  be 
there.  Tunker  houses  were  closed  that  day,  the  whole  family  and 
the  help  at  church.  They  never  were  and  never  will  be  more  dil- 
igent in  this  respect  than  during  the  period  mentioned.  Duty 
called  them  to  the  house  of  God,  but  another  and  still  louder  call 
urged  them.  It  was  the  call  of  love.  They  loved  one  another, 
and  they  loved  to  meet  and  greet  each  other  at  the  doors  of  the 
sanctuary.  They  loved  the  plain  gospel  hymns,  full  of  consola- 
tion and  rest.  They  loved  the  glorious  congregational  singing, 
which  swelled  triumphantly  in  the  great  church,  and  rolled  its 
billows  of  sublime  harmony  out  through  windows  and  doors,  and 
up  through  the  solemn  oaks  toward  heaven.  They  loved  the 
preacher,  who  earnestly  and  honestly,  and  in  their  own  language, 
spake  to  them  the  Lord's  message.  He  might  not  be  able  and 
eloquent,  but  they  cared  little  for  these  things.  His  honest  out- 
giving, the  tones  of  his  voice,  his  very  looks,  rested  and  fed  their 
souls.  The  polish  and  accomplishments  of  the  schools  would 
have  separated  him  from  them.     Rhetorical  language  and  flowery 


246  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

periods  would  have  estranged  them  from  each  other.  The  "man- 
ner of  man"  he  was,  became  to  them  eloquence  and  power. 

Peace  is  written  in  the  faces  of  young  and  old,  in  the  mild 
looks,  the  quiet  kindness  in  every  eye,  the  modulated  tones  of 
brotherly  love  in  every  salutation.  It  is  the  contagion  of  the 
place,  and  broods  over  all,  so  that  one  feels  himself  immersed  in 
an  atmosphere  of  peace.  The  world  seems  far  away.  Toil  and 
care  and  worry  are  forgotten,  and  you  rest  in  the  motherly  arms 
of  peace,  as  one  that  is  weary  hastens  to  the  enfolding  of 
maternal  love. 

The  congregation  is  in  its  place.  Behind  the  long,  unpainted 
table,  instead  of  a  pulpit,  the  long,  plain  bench  is  filled  with  the 
elders  and  preachers.  There  are  no  upholstered  chairs  for  this 
unpretentious  clergy.  They  allow  themselves  no  luxury  denied 
to  the  people. 

A  steady,  strong,  musical  voice  on  the  deacons'  bench  raises 
the  tune,  and  soon  the  whole  congregation  join  in  the  hearty 
singing.  This  was  always  the  most  attractive  part  of  the  old-time 
Tunker  service.  No  congregation  ever  sang  better.  It  was  a 
beautiful,  spiritual,  refreshing  worship,  and  the  sound  of  an 
instrument  in  one  of  those  old-time  Tunker  congregations,  where 
every  voice  made  "melody  unto  the  Lord,"  would  have  seemed 
a  discord  and  a  profanation. 

But  the  hymn,  lined  out  in  a  rather  unnatural  and  sanctimonious 
style,  is  finished.  Every  verse  was  sung.  The  Sabbath  is  before 
them.  No  conventional  hour  shall  limit  the  heavenly  feast.  The 
echoes  of  the  last  notes  having  died  away,  the  preacher  prepares 
to  further  enforce  the  sentiment  of  the  hymn,  and  gradually  pre- 
pare the  minds  of  the  people  for  prayer.  His  remarks  are  a 
prosy  repetition  of  the  sentiment  of  the  lines,  but  they  do  not 
seem  to  be  superfluous,  or  out  of  place.  There  must  be  no  hurry 
on  the  threshold  of  the  mercy-seat.  Plainly,  simply,  unostenta- 
tiously he  talks  for  five,  ten,  even  fifteen  minutes.  An  increasing 
weight  of  solemnity  comes  down  upon  the  congregation.  They 
are  about  to  appear  before  God,  and  to  speak  with  Him,  as  friend 


DOCTRINAL.  247 

to  friend.  The  very  place  is  holy,  and  profound  seriousness  is 
marked  upon  every  countenance. 

The  preacher  calls  to  prayer.  Immediately  a  great  rustling  is 
heard  throughout  the  church.  Every  man  and  woman  is  on 
bended  knees.  No  resting  of  foreheads  on  hands  or  bench  backs 
will  suffice  to  express  the  reverent  spirit  of  the  congregation.  The 
leader  in  prayer  tarries  long  at  the  mercy-seat.  He  may  not  be 
gifted,  though  many  of  the  old  brethren  were  gifted  in  this  grace. 
They  spake  not  the  eloquence  of  the  schools,  but  the  eloquence  of 
the  heart,  which,  after  all,  is  the  truest  eloquence.  The  seeming 
formality  of  the  prayer  is  lightened  by  the  evident  sincerity  of  the 
man.  Some  prayed  almost  the  same  prayer  for  years,  without 
becoming  wearisome  or  disappointing.  Like  a  chapter  in  the 
Bible,  it  never  grows  old. 

The  initial  season  of  devotion  having  closed,  the  oldest  bishop 
extends  "the  liberty"  to  his  associates,  who,  in  turn,  offer  it  to 
each  other.  This  interchange  of  courtesies  occupies  a  minute  or 
more,  the  congregation  meanwhile  looking  on,  and  wondering 
who  would  deliver  the  sermon,  a  point  that  in  few  congregations 
was  settled  before  the  time  had  actually  arrived.  If  there  hap- 
pens to  be  a  visiting  brother  on  the  bench,  he  usually  finds  it 
impossible  to  decline  the  "liberty."  If  there  are  none,  one  of  the 
home  ministers  yields,  with  apparent  reluctance,  to  the  importuni- 
ties of  the  brethren,  and  arises  to  sound  forth  the  Word. 

Lifting  the  big  Bible  from  the  stand,  the  preacher  of  the  day, 
while  looking  for  his  text,  or  perhaps  while  trying  to  decide  what 
text  he  would  take,  requests  the  congregation  to  sing  either  one 
or  the  other  of  two  well-known  hymns: — 

"Father,  I  stretch  my  hands  to  Thee, 
No  other  help  I  know; 
If  Thou  withdraw  Thyself  from  me, 
Ah,  whither  shall  I  go?" 

Or, 

"A  charge  to  keep  I  have." 
One  who  never  heard  a  congregation  of  Tunkers  sing  one  of 
these  hymns  just  before  the  sermon,  would  find  it  difficult  to 


248  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

form  any  adequate  idea  of  the  quiet,  deep  fervency  and  solemn 
earnestness  with  which  they  were  rendered.  Deep  feeling,  not 
the  kind  which  takes  emotional  forms,  for  the  Tunkers  are  not 
and  never  were  an  emotional  people,  but  the  kind  which  springs 
from  profound  sincerity,  inward  truth,  marks  the  singing  of  this 
hymn,  and  the  preacher  arises  to  his  task  with  every  spiritual 
support,  prepared  at  all  points  to  speak  his  message,  all  but  one, 
and  that  the  needful  intellectual  training  and  special  preparation 
which  for  so  many  years  were  regarded  as  mere  human  devices, 
which  could  not  possibly  add  to  the  saving  power  of  the  Word. 

That  this  has  been  the  fatal  weakness  of  the  Tunker  ministry 
throughout  nearly  the  whole  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  now 
recognized  by  the  leaders  of  the  church,  with  the  result  that  this 
hitherto  conservative  people  are  perhaps  outstripping  the  most 
progressive  denominations  in  the  matter  of  schools  and  colleges 
for  the  thorough  training  of  their  talented  youth. 

Many  a  time,  but  not  every  time,  we  have  heard  a  long,  ram- 
bling, illogical,  ungrammatical,  confused,  vehement  discourse, 
which  would  scatter  any  other  but  a  Tunker  congregation  to  the 
four  winds.  Some  signs  of  disappointment  and  weariness  might 
be  observed  here  and  there,  but  the  great  majority  of  the  members 
followed  the  preacher  through  all  his  devious  and  obscure  wan- 
derings, apparently  with  unflagging  interest.  He  fed  their  souls, 
and  that  was  all  they  were  looking  for.  He  ministered  to  their 
spiritual  life,  whether  that  was  strong  or  weak,  and  beyond  this 
they  had  no  consciousness  of  comparatively  unimportant  defects. 
The  only  eloquence  that  was  eloquent  to  them  was  the  purely 
spiritual,  and  the  dull  apostle,  if  his  heart  and  life  were  right,  if 
the  spirit  rested  upon  him,  imparted  as  much  grace  as  the  brilliant 
one,  and  in  so  vital  a  connection  mere  talent,  oratory,  phrase- 
making,  exegetical  skill,  was  not  to  be  mentioned  at  all. 

Nevertheless,  as  we  have  already  said,  Tunker  sermonizing  in 
the  church  of  that  period  was  their  greatest,  their  almost  fatal 
weakness,  for  while  an  abler  and  more  attractive  ministry  may 
not  have  been  specially  needed  as  a  pastoral  agency,  it  was  sorely 
needed  as  a  missionary  agency,  to  extend  the  church  beyond  its 


DOCTRINAL.  249 

natural  and  hereditary  limits.  There  was  practically  at  that  time 
no  question  as  to  the  gathering  in  of  the  young  people  belonging 
to  Tunker  families,  and  their  few  dependents ;  but  how  could  it 
be  expected  that  intelligent,  educated  outsiders  were  to  be  favor- 
ably impressed  by  preachers  who  were  unable  to  present  a  logical 
and  convincing  statement  of  their  own  doctrines  ? 

But  we  must  cut  short  this  digression  and  hasten  to  the  end. 
The  sermon  finally  concluded,  a  word  of  testimony  is  borne  by 
one  of  the  associate  preachers,  and  this  is  followed  by  the  con- 
cluding prayer  and  hymn.  Then,  with  the  usual  announcements, 
the  congregation  is  dismissed  without  the  benediction,  to  return 
to  the  beautiful  farms  and  fragrant  orchards,  the  better  benedic- 
tion of  God's  peace  resting  upon  each  one  as  he  carries  with  him 
the  consciousness  of  duty  done,  the  sanctified  memories  of  a  holy 
place,  and  the  sweet  echoes  of  melody  and  song. 

THE     TUNKER     LOVE-FEAST. 

Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  one  of  those  remarkable  assem- 
blies. Within  the  long,  low  auditorium  a  vast  congregation,  often 
numbering  a  thousand  souls,  throngs  every  foot  of  available  space. 
The  members  are  all  seated  around  long,  immaculately  white 
tables.  If  it  is  a  typical  Tunker  communion,  the  white  caps  of 
the  sisters,  framing  pure  and  peaceful  faces,  ranged  on  either 
side  of  their  separate  tables,  forms  a  picture  which  lingers  long 
in  the  memory,  in  its  unique  and  singular  beauty.  A  narrow 
space  along  the  walls  of  the  church  accommodates  the  audience, 
the  outsiders,  and  thickly  standing  upon  the  benches  which  have 
been  packed  into  this  space,  they  gaze  upon  the  scene  before  them 
with  eager  and  unflagging  interest,  not  seeming  to  be  conscious 
of  the  long  hours,  nor  of  the  fatigue  attending  their  crowded  and 
uncomfortable  position.  At  a  central  table  solemn  and  venerable 
men  are  conducting  the  service.  A  devout  atmosphere  pervades 
the  house.  The  reverent  voice  of  the  officiating  bishop  arrests 
even  the  most  careless  ear,  and  all  who  are  present  feel  that  the 
place  is  holy,  and  that  God  Himself  is  not  very  far  away. 

The  Tunker  love-feast  embraced  a  series  of  services,  beginning 


250  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

usually  on  the  forenoon  of  Saturday,  and  ending  with  a  great 
assembly  and  a  notable  sermon  on  Sunday  forenoon.  If  any  other 
day  was  selected  for  opening,  substantially  the  same  course  was 
pursued.  The  Saturday-forenoon  service  was  followed  by  a  din- 
ner, which  was  served  to  the  whole  congregation,  having  been 
prepared  in  the  kitchen  apartment.  The  young  people  belonging 
to  the  Tunker  families  in  the  community  would  assist  in  spread- 
ing the  tables  and  waiting  on  the  people.  It  was  not  unusual 
for  the  dinner  to  continue  until  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and 
from  three  to  nine  hundred  persons  were  fed.  The  menu  varied 
somewhat,  according  to  the  financial  ability  of  the  congregation. 
It  invariably  consisted  of  the  very  best  bread,  good  butter,  apple 
butter,  pickles,  and  pies  and  coffee.  If  the  church  could  afford 
it,  fresh  beef  was  also  supplied. 

Illustrating  the  fact  that  the  throng  is  often  hungrier  for  the 
loaves  and  fishes  than  for  the  spiritual  gospel,  it  was  often  neces- 
sary to  appoint  door-keepers  to  regulate  the  crowd  while  the  meal 
was  in  progress,  and  the  strongest  men  in  the  community  were 
chosen  for  this  office.  The  recess  following  this  meal  was  enjoyed 
by  the  members  as  a  season  of  delightful  social  intercourse.  In 
later  years,  however,  this  Saturday-morning  sermon  and  dinner 
were  abandoned  by  some  congregations,  and  the  services  began 
with  the  "examination"  in  the  afternoon, — a.  season  of  devout 
seriousness,  a  spiritual  preparation  for  the  communion  proper, — 
which  was  soon  to  follow. 

1  Cor.  1 1  :  38  was  read  as  a  basis  for  one  or  more  discourses, 
after  which  the  officiating  elder  would  deliver  an  exhortation  to 
prayer,  being  careful  to  remark  in  conclusion  that  there  would  be 
perfect  freedom  to  any  one,  brother  or  sister,  who  might  feel 
pressed  to  lead  in  open  prayer,  and  the  season  would  close  with 
the  Lord's  Prayer.  It  was  not  unusual  for  three  or  four  brethren 
to  exercise  in  prayer,  but  it  was  very  unusual  to  hear  a  sister  pray 
on  such  or  any  other  public  occasion. 

Then  followed  a  short  intermission  after  the  announcement  that 
the  next  service  would  be  indicated  by  singing,  when  the  mem- 
bers who  expected  to  participate  in  the  communion  would  take 


DOCTRINAL.  25 1 

their  seats  on  long  benches  at  the  tables  immediately  on  entering 
the  house,  so  that  the  deacons  might  know  whether  sufficient 
table-room  had  been  prepared. 

The  song  having  been  completed,  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
John  was  read  to  the  end  of  the  thirtieth  verse.  After  reading  the 
scripture,  with  suitable  admonition,  the  washing  of  feet  began. 
Later  on,  the  time  for  commencing  the  washing  of  feet  was  indi- 
cated when  the  reader  came  to  the  fourth  verse,  "He  riseth  from 
supper."  At  this  point  those  who  had  been  appointed  to  lead 
would  arise,  two  by  two,  lay  aside  their  garments,  gird  each 
other  with  a  white  apron,  pour  water  into  a  small  vessel,  and  pro- 
ceed, one  to  wash  and  the  other  to  wipe  the  feet  of  such  persons 
as  might  be  prepared  to  receive  the  service.  The  first  two  would 
wash  and  wipe  the  feet  of  from  six  to  ten  or  more  persons,  when 
they  would  be  relieved  by  such  other  two  persons  as  might  volun- 
teer. This  was  called  "the  double  mode."  By  "the  single  mode" 
one  person  arose,  commenced  the  service  by  laying  aside  his  coat, 
girding  himself,  and  washing  and  wiping  the  feet  of  the  member 
seated  next  to  him.  Then  he  gave  the  towel  to  the  person  whom 
he  had  served,  who  would  proceed  in  the  same  manner  to  number 
three.  Thus  the  work  continued  to  the  last  one  on  the  bench  at 
a  table,  who,  in  turn,  served  number  one. 

After  having  washed  and  wiped  the  feet,  the  members  engaged 
salute  each  other  with  the  holy  kiss.  This  custom  is  invariable 
among  all  denominations  of  Tunkers.  In  the  Brethren  congre- 
gations this  is  the  only  occasion  when  the  salutation  is  cere- 
monially observed. 

Clear  water  and  clean  towels  are  supplied  for  cleansing  of 
hands.  Besides  the  esthetic  purpose,  this  washing  of  the  hands 
indicates  the  sacredness  of  the  succeeding  ordinances  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  and  the  Communion. 

Feet-washing  having  now  been  concluded,  the  Lord's  Supper 
was  next  placed  on  the  table.  Certain  ones  had  prepared  the 
food  during  former  exercises.  It  consisted  of  bread,  mutton  or 
beef,  and  soup  made  of  meat  broth.  Thanks  being  offered,  the 
meal  was  partaken  of.     After  supper,  during  the  singing  of  a 


252  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

hymn,  the  tables  were  cleared  of  everything  except  the  cloths, 
which  were  turned.  Then  the  Communion  bread  and  wine  were 
placed  upon  the  table. 

Then,  usually,  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  John  was  read,  fol- 
lowed by  a  dissertation  on  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  by  some 
preacher  of  merit,  and  closed  by  the  elder,  with  an  admonition 
to  love  and  other  duties.  During  this  exhortation  the  elder  pre- 
pared the  Communion  bread  by  breaking  the  loaves  into  narrow 
slices  indicated  by  slight  indentures  before  baking.  These  were 
placed  side  by  side  and  crossed  until  the  process  was  complete, 
and  was  performed  with  much  exactness,  and  observed  by  all 
within  sight  with  as  much  solemnity  as  the  ordinance  itself. 

Then  the  salutation  was  introduced,  quoting  1  Cor.  16:20, 
"Greet  ye  one  another  with  an  holy  kiss,"  or  kindred  passages. 
Then  the  elder  would  extend  his  right  hand  to  and  kiss  the 
brother  next  to  him.  Thus  the  salutation  would  pass  to  the  last 
brother  at  the  last  table,  who  would  kiss  the  officiating  elder,  thus 
completing  the  circle.  After  having  started  the  divine  command 
with  the  brethren,  the  elder  in  charge  extended  the  right  hand 
of  fellowship  to  one  of  the  sisters  occupying  an  end  of  the  table, 
with  instructions  to  pass  the  salutation  among  themselves,  and 
he  followed  the  line  to  see  that  it  was  properly  observed. 

The  following  remarks  were  then  made  by  the  elder  in  cnarge : 
"The  apostle  Paul  says,  T  have  received  of  the  Lord  that  which 
also  I  delivered  unto  you,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  the  same  night  in 
which  He  was  betrayed  took  bread,  and  when  He  had  given 
thanks,  He  brake  it.'  So,  in  like  manner,  we  will  also  return 
thanks  for  this  bread."  Then  all  arose,  and  thanks  were  given 
for  and  a  blessing  asked  upon  the  bread.  After  all  were  again 
seated,  he  proceeded.  "The  apostle  says,  The  bread  which  we 
break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ?'  which  is 
equivalent  to  affirming  that  it  is.  So  I  will  say  to  my  brother, 
Beloved  brother,  the  bread  which  we  break  is  the  communion  of 
the  body  of  Christ,"  and  while  speaking  these  words,  he  breaks 
a  small  piece  from  the  long  slice  and  hands  it  to  him.  The  larger 
piece,  from  which  he  had  broken,  is  passed  to  number  two,  who 


DOCTRINAL.  253 

repeats  the  same  to  brother  number  three,  etc.     One  or  two  sub- 
elders  accompany  the  line  with  supplies  of  bread. 

The  leader  then  turns  to  the  sister  to  whom  he  had  extended 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  saying,  "Beloved  sister,  the  bread 
which  we  break  is  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ,"  break- 
ing a  piece  and  handing  it  to  her.  This  he  repeats  substantially 
to  the  next  sister,  breaking  bread  for  and  to  every  sister  at  the 
table. 

Both  circles  having  completed  the  breaking  of  bread,  the  bishop 
remarks,  "We  have  tarried  one  for  another  until  all  have  been 
served,  and  we  will  now  eat  this  bread,  contemplating  the  suffer- 
ings of  our  Saviour."  After  all  had  eaten  in  silence,  the  white 
covering  was  removed  from  the  wine,  and  two  cups  were  filled. 
If  several  bottles  were  at  hand,  wine  was  poured  from  each  one 
into  each  cup.  This  was  done,  we  presume,  to  show  that  it  was 
all  alike.  "After  the  same  manner  also  He  took  the  cup,  when 
He  had  supped,"  is  the  bishop's  next  quotation,  and  he  con- 
tines,  "from  which  we  conclude  that  as  He  had  given  thanks  for 
the  bread,  He  did  also  for  the  cup.  Let  us  rise  and  give  thanks 
for  the  cup." 

When  the  members  are  seated  again,  he  says,  "Beloved 
brother,  this  cup  of  the  New  Testament  is  the  communion  of  the 
blood  of  Christ,"  and  hands  a  cup  to  whom  he  had  broken  bread ; 
who,  after  taking  a  sip  of  the  wine,  passes  it  to  the  next  brother, 
and  so  on  until  the  circle  is  complete,  the  leader  partaking  last 
of  all.  A  sub-elder  follows  the  line  with  a  supply,  replenishing 
the  cup  when  required. 

The  same  quotation  is  repeated  to  the  sisters,  as  the  bishop 
hands  the  cup  to  the  first  one.  After  taking  a  sip,  she  returns 
the  cup  to  the  bishop,  who  hands  it  to  the  next  sister,  and  so  on 
until  all  have  been  served.  No  matter  how  inconvenient  it  may 
be  for  the  leader  to  give  and  have  returned  to  him,  the  cup  must 
be  given  to  each  sister  by  the  officiating  elder.  This  has  been  an 
inflexible  rule  with  the  German  Baptist  and  Old  German  Baptist 
branches  of  the  Tunker  fraternity,  to  the  close  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 


254  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

During  the  passing  of  the  cup  the  congregation  engages  in 
singing,  but  during  the  breaking  of  bread  singing  is  not  generally 
permitted. 

The  last  quotation,  to  close  the  Communion,  is  now  repeated : 
"And  they  sang  a  hymn  and  went  out."  This  is  followed  by 
prayer  and  song,  and  the  congregation  may  consider  itself 
dismissed. 

In  the  Brethren  Church  only  one  cup  is  used,  the  sisters  being 
served  first,  with  both  bread  and  wine,  as  a  matter  of  courtesy 
more  than  of  theology.  The  officiating  minister,  in  passing  the 
loaf  to  the  first  sister,  remarks,  "Beloved  sister,  the  bread  which 
wre  break  is  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ ;"  and  while 
both  are  holding  the  bread,  they  break  it,  the  sister  retaining  the 
smaller  part  for  herself,  and  then  receiving  the  larger  piece  from 
the  elder,  breaks  it  with  the  next  sister,  and  so  on  until  all  have 
been  served.  The  last  sister  breaks  bread  with  the  brother  desig- 
nated to  her  by  the  leader.  The  cup  is  passed  in  the  same  man- 
ner, following  the  line  of  bread-breaking.  To  avoid  embarrass- 
ment it  will  be  well  to  seat  the  members  so  that  husband  and 
wife  may  serve  each  other  in  the  Communion  exercises. 

All  now  look  forward  to  the  Sabbath-morning  service,  which 
is  a  fit  consummation  of  the  series.  A  great  throng  assembles, 
for  we  have  never  known  the  interest  in  these  meetings  to  wane, 
whether  the  sermon  be  usually  good  or  usually  poor.  Generally 
the  ablest  preacher  at  command  is  selected  to  deliver  the  dis- 
course. The  members  come,  spiritually  refreshed  from  the 
recent  communion,  and  filled  with  joyful  prayer.  It  is  a  thrilling 
moment  when  the  preacher  rises  to  face  that  vast  congregation. 
From  the  four  corners  of  the  great  building  a  multitude  of  eager 
faces  look  up  at  him.  At  every  window  and  door  new  throngs 
await  his  message.  If  there  was  ever  a  time  for  him  to  play  the 
man,  it  is  now.  All  his  powers  are  astir  in  him.  The  occasion 
calls  for  his  mightiest  and  best,  but  woe  to  the  careless  soul  who 
flounders  in  confusion  over  this  great  opportunity  which  comes 
not  often  to  many  men  whose  mission  it  is  to  stand  between  God 
and  the  people.     Generally  a  fundamental  gospel  theme   or  a  text 


DOCTRINAL.  255 

of  invitation  is  selected  like  unto  that  one  in  Revelation  which 
proclaims,  "The  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say,  Come,  and  let  him  that 
heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  And  who- 
soever will,  let  him  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely."  Inspiring 
hymns,  in  which  a  thousand  voices  swell  the  sublime  melody,  fol- 
low the  great  sermon,  and  then  a  tender  prayer,  and  the  people 
depart,  each  one  to  his  tabernacle  of  earthly  rest. 

GOD THE  SOVEREIGN  PROGENITOR  OF  THE  HUMAN  RACE. 

BY    ELDER    P.    J.    BROWN. 

Text:   "We  are  also  His  offspring."     Acts  17:28. 

Saint  Paul  in  his  travels  as  a  missionary  of  the  cross,  came  to 
the  capital  of  Greece,  where  the  people  brought  him  to  the  hill 
of  Mars.  There,  in  the  midst  of  the  venerable  lawyers  and 
jurists  of  the  supreme  court  of  Athens,  called  the  Areopagus, 
he  stood  and  preached  Jesus  and  the  resurrection.  One  of  his 
principal  arguments  in  defense  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
was  that  we  "live,  move,  and  have  our  being  in  God."  And  to 
clinch  his  argument  and  make  it  convincing  to  his  talented  and 
polished  auditors,  he  quotes  from  Arastus,  a  Grecian  poet  and 
astronomer  (whom  he  calls  "one  of  their  own  poets"),  the  impor- 
tant declaration  that  we  are  the  "offspring  of  God." 

Arastus  was  a  man  whose  writings  were  regarded  as  being  of 
high  authority.  He  wrote  about  270  before  Christ.  He  was  a 
Cilician,  a  native  of  the  same  province  with  St.  Paul,  and  the 
circumstances  show  that  the  latter  was  well  acquainted  with  his 
writings.  The  poem  from  which  he  quotes  was  one  of  his  mas- 
terpieces.    The  renowned  Cicero  has  translated  it  into  Latin. 

Taking  into  account  these  facts,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  much 
consequence  as  to  what  we  are  to  understand  from  the  statement 
that  we  are  the  "offspring  of  God."  And  let  it  not  be  forgotten 
that  Paul  accepts  it  as  a  fact,  for  in  the  succeeding  verse  he  says, 
"Forasmuch,  then,  as  we  arc  the  offspring  of  God." 

The  first  question  we  wish  to  examine  is,  Who  are  the  off- 
spring of  God  ?     We  find  that  both  Paul  and  Arastus  take  a  com- 


256  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

prehensive,  yea,  an  unlimited  view  of  the  case.  Paul  says,  "All 
nations  of  men  which  God  has  made  of  one  blood,  to  dwell  on  all 
the  face  of  the  earth."  Arastus  says,  "We,"  the  human  race,  are 
the  offspring  of  God ;  not  the  few  who  accept  the  gospel  and  are 
converted  to  Christ ;  for  Arastus  knew  nothing  about  the  gospel 
or  any  revelation  from  God ;  hence  he  means  all  men,  regardless 
of  any  moral  condition.  Those  who  accept  the  offer  of  salva- 
tion are  subjects  of  a  second  offspring,  or  regeneration,  or,  as 
Christ  calls  it,  are  "born  again."  The  central  truth  remains,  that 
all  men  are  in  some  sense  the  offspring  of  God.  And  it  will 
be  our  purpose  in  the  second  place,  to  find  in  what  sense  we  are 
the  offspring  of  God.  In  order  to  do  this  successfully  it  will  be 
necessary  to  ascertain  what  we  are  to  understand  by  the  term 
"offspring."  And,  since  we  are  dealing  with  a  Greek  author,  we 
must,  to  some  extent,  consult  Grecian  literature.  The  Greek 
word  is  "genos,"  and  Downegan,  a  standard  author,  gives  the 
word  the  following  definitions :  "Birth,  race,  lineage,  family, 
original  family,  or  stock."  Offspring  differs  from  generation, 
which  usually  means  an  age  or  portion  of  time,  while  offspring 
includes  all  ages  and  all  times.  The  English  definition,  as  given 
by  Webster,  is :  "That  which  is  produced,  a  child,  or  children, 
descendants,  however  remote  from  the  stock." 

From  the  beautiful  harmony  of  sense  in  these  high  authorities 
we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  very  flow  and  sound  of 
the  word  "offspring"  means  that  the  human  race  in  some  sense 
sprang  from  God.  This  was  the  faith,  not  only  of  Arastus,  but 
of  the  still  more  renowned  Plato,  who  died  at  Athens,  three  hun- 
dred and  forty-three  years  before  Christ,  who  taught  the  same 
doctrine.  Of  him,  says  Thomson  Moore,  the  biographer,  "His 
writings  are  very  valuable,  his  language  beautiful  and  correct, 
and  his  philosophy  sublime."  Such  is  the  testimony  of  men  of 
comprehensive  learning.  While  the  novice  may  sneeringly  say, 
"I  do  not  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  because  Plato, 
a  heathen  philosopher,  taught  it,"  be  it  not  forgotten  that  Arastus 
and  Plato  had  not  the  Bible,  but  drew  their  conclusions  from  the 
study  of   the  broad    field  of  nature.     And  if   they,  without    the 


DOCTRINAL.  257 


Bible,  reached  better  conclusions  as  to  the  nature  and  source  of 
the  human  race  than  some  of  the  latter-day  would-be  revealers 
of  revelation  do  with  the  Bible,  their  memory  should  be  the  more 
revered,  and  the  latter  should  be  the  more  ashamed. 

Third.  We  shall  next  consider  the  relation  between  the  parent 
and  the  offspring.  If  the  parent  is  an  Indian  the  children  will 
be  Indians.  If  the  parent  is  an  African  the  children  will  be 
Africans.  If  the  parent  is  an  Anglo-Saxon  the  children  will  be 
Anglo-Saxons.  These  differences  are  due  to  the  difference  in 
the  parents  physically,  but  not  spiritually.  Their  material  being 
is  made  of  created  and  changeable  matter,  but  the  life  power  is 
all  by  the  same  blood.  All  are  the  offspring  of  God  because  all 
are  capable  of  loving  and  serving  God.  Whatever  their  moral 
or  intellectual  condition,  they  have  His  "breath  of  life,"  and  spirit- 
ually are  His  offspring. 

A  man's  child  is  his  child,  and  always  will  be,  regardless  of 
moral  conditions.  The  child  may  become  a  profligate,  a  drunk- 
ard, or  a  prostitute,  may  be  driven  from  home,  and  lose  the 
inheritance,  but  is  yet  the  parent's  child,  bears  his  name  and 
image,  though  in  a  degraded  condition.  So  in  the  other  and 
higher  sense,  the  human  race  is  the  offspring  of  God,  and  never 
can  be  otherwise.  Though  they  rebel  against  Him,  because  they 
are  wicked,  and  are  driven  away  from  Him,  and  lose  the  inherit- 
ance of  eternal  life,  they  are  yet  His  offspring. 

Again,  if  the  parent  is  mortal  the  child  is  mortal ;  if  the  parent 
is  immortal  so  is  the  child.  Our  parents  were  mortal,  and  they 
died  or  will  die.  We  inherited  from  them  a  mortal  body,  and 
so  far  we,  too,  will  die ;  but  God,  our  spiritual  Father,  is  immor- 
tal in  every  sense,  and  we  derived  from  Him,  through  Adam,  the 
life,  soul,  or  spirit,  or  whatever  you  may  call  it ;  and  that,  being 
the  part  of  us  which  is  the  offspring  of  God,  must  of  necessity 
also  be  absolutely  and  emphatically  immortal.  Though  through 
the  corruptibility  of  the  flesh  that  soul  should  be  lost,  it  never- 
theless lives  and  always  will  live,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  it 
always  did  live.  Immortality  is  from  God,  is  a  part  of  God,  and, 
like  God,  has  neither  beginning  nor  end.     If  this  is  not  the  kind 


17 


258  HISTORY    OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

of  a  soul  we  have,  then,  like  the  brute,  we  had  a  beginning,  and, 
like  the  brute,  we  will  cease  to  exist  after  this  life.  Such  is  the 
soul-sleepers'  hope;  it  is  not  ours.  Sirs,  we  never  can  die  any 
other  death  than  the  death  of  separation  from  God  and  from  the 
glory  of  His  power.  This  is  the  second  death ;  this  is  eternal 
death,  but  it  is  also  eternal  torment,  "where  the  worm  dieth  not, 
and  the  fire  is  not  quenched."  In  this  sense  it  is  said,  "The  soul 
that  sinneth  it  shall  die."  The  soul-sleeper  may  offer  his  snarls 
and  sneers  about  the  "death  that  never  dies."  Such  is,  neverthe- 
less, the  sense  that  science  and  revelation  will  ever  teach,  for  as 
God  our  Father  is  immortal,  will  never  die,  so  we  are  immortal 
and  will  never  die ;  for  as  is  the  parent,  so  will  be  the  child. 

"But,"  says  one,  "is  this  the  only  text  from  which  you  claim  to 
prove  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  irrespective  of  moral  or  intel- 
lectual condition  ?" — Not  so  by  any  means.  But  suppose  it  were  ; 
we  regard  this  one  as  absolutely  invulnerable.  Were  it  not  that 
Paul  accepts  the  views  of  Arastus  as  being  correct,  thus  giving  it 
the  divine  sanction  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  under  whose  influence  he 
preached,  there  might  be  some  possible  escape  for  the  soul-sleeper 
from  the  position  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  which  is  so  clearly 
taught  in  the  text.  But  this  one  truth,  presented  by  a  heathen 
poet,  and  sanctioned  by  an  inspired  apostle,  is  sufficient  to  crush 
all  the  soul-sleeping  out  of  the  present  generation,  if  the  people 
will  but  open  their  eyes  long  enough  to  let  reason  assert  her 
rights. 

We  are  not  done,  however.  This  is  only  our  introduction. 
We  do  not  boast  of  having  read  a  "house  full  of  books."  The 
retaining  points  of  our  memory  are  not  strong  and  capacious 
enough,  and  life  is  too  short  to  risk  such  an  experiment;  for  it 
is  our  candid  opinion  that  beyond  a  certain  range,  the  more  a 
man  reads  the  less  he  knows,  and  that  if  he  persists  in  abusing 
his  brains,  he  is  liable  to  turn  up  in  some  lunatic  asylum.  We  do, 
however,  lay  some  claim  to  having  read  the  Bible,  and  from  the 
Bible  we  shall  farther  endeavor  to  establish  and  prove  to  your 
entire  satisfaction  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  regardless  of  moral 
condition. 


DOCTRINAL.  259 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  all  religious  discourses  begin  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden.  Whether  this  assertion  be  correct  or  not,  there 
is  a  potent  reason  why  they  should  do  so.  There  is  an  affinity, 
a  connection  like  an  electrified  wire,  running  through  every  intel- 
lectual fiber  of  the  human  race,  from  the  last  one  born  back  to  the 
time  of  our  offspring.  The  Bible  gives  an  account  of  the  crea- 
tion of  Adam  clearly  in  harmony  with  the  thoughts  adduced  from 
the  text,  and  is  as  follows :  "And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of 
the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath 
of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul."     Gen.  2 :  7. 

Two  acts  are  here  recorded.  First,  the  body  was  formed  of 
created  material,  and  hence  is  subject  to  dissolution.  Second, 
the  life  was  given  it  by  the  act  of  breathing  it  into  the  body,  and, 
as  a  result,  the  man  became  a  living  soul.  The  quibbler  will  here 
ask,  "Was  he  then  a  dead  soul  prior  to  this  second  act?"  We 
answer,  The  term  soul  is  here  used  to  mean  the  entire  person  ; 
same  as  in  Acts  6 :  14,  where  it  is  said,  ''Jacob  and  all  his  kindred, 
threescore  and  fifteen  souls."  Again,  in  Acts  2:41,  "And  the 
same  day  there  were  added  unto  them  about  three  thousand 
souls."  In  both  cases  the  entire  person  is  meant.  So,  in  the 
case  of  Adam,  prior  to  the  possession  of  life,  he  was  a  dead  body, 
but  after  that  he  was  a  living  soul  or  person.  It  is  not  an  unusual 
thing  for  a  person  to  be  spoken  of  in  his  entirety  as  a  single  entity. 
I  say,  "Somebody  is  coming."  No  one  should  think  I  mean  a 
soulless  body  like  that  of  Adam  prior  to  the  influx  of  life  or  the 
offspring  of  life  from  God.  So,  when  we  read  of  a  given  num- 
ber of  souls  being  added,  or  having  journeyed,  we  should  not 
understand  it  to  mean  bodyless  spirits. 

But  with  all  the  quibbling  that  has  been  resorted  to,  the  grand 
fact  remains  that  "Adam  was  the  son  of  God."  Luke  3 :  38. 
And  the  history  of  the  fact  is  that  God  breathed  the  life  into 
him,  transferred  it,  gave  it  as  a  part  of  Himself,  and  it  can  never 
be  extinguished ;  it  is  indestructible ;  it  is  immortal ;  it  is  the  part 
of  God  through  which  He  becomes  our  Father.  This  declaration 
by  the  evangelist  Luke  is  so  plain,  so  utterly  incapable  of  being 


26o  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

misunderstood,  although  thousands  read  it  and  have  read  it  with- 
out giving  it  sufficient  thought  to  comprehend  its  import. 

"Adam  was  the  son  of  God."  In  what  sense  was  Adam  the 
»on  or  offspring  of  God  ?  Was  it  the  body  of  Adam  that  sprang 
from  God  ? — Surely  not ;  for  every  act  in  the  history  of  Adam's 
creation  points  unmistakably  to  the  fact  that  Adam's  body  was 
the  offspring  of  the  earth,  hence  it  was  the  soul  of  Adam  that  was 
the  offspring  of  God.  There  can  be  no  other  conclusion.  And 
the  stream  of  life  that  God  started  in  Adam  still  flows  on,  and 
which  He  kindles  in  every  child  that  comes  into  the  world  unless 
it  is  still-born,  and  becomes  the  offspring  of  God  through  Adam. 
Hence,  Adam  is  our  elder  brother,  and  God  the  Father  of  all. 

How  clearly  does  the  definition  of  Webster  appear,  when  he 
says,  "The  offspring  is  a  descendant,  a  child,  however  remote 
from  the  stock." 

In  Revelation  22 :  16  Jesus  says,  "I  am  the  root  and  offspring 
of  David."  Again  we  ask,  In  what  sense  is  Christ  the  offspring 
of  David  ?  Turn  to  Acts  2  :  30.  Here  we  are  told  by  the  apostle 
Peter  that,  David,  "being  a  prophet,  and  knowing  that  God  had 
sworn  with  an  oath  to  him,  that  of  the  fruit  of  his  loins,  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh,  He  would  raise  up  Christ  to  sit  on  his  throne. w 
This  makes  it  clear  that  Christ  was  the  offspring  of  David  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh,  and  the  flesh  only.  And  when  we  remember 
that  there  were  twenty-eight  generations  between  David  and 
Christ,  it  helps  us  to  comprehend  the  stupendous  fact  that,  as 
Adam  was  the  offspring  of  God,  so  is  the  last  born  of  the  human 
race.  All  the  souls  that  exist  or  ever  will  exist,  are  the  offspring 
of  God  through  Adam,  and  hence  are  immortal,  indestructible, 
and  yet  susceptible  of  punishment.  They  can  not  be  destroyed 
in  the  sense  of  being  annihilated,  for  the  good  reason  that  they 
were  not  created.  That  which  was  made  may  be  unmade.  God 
is  an  uncreated  Being ;  yes,  every  particle  of  Him,  including  the 
breath  that  He  breathed  into  Adam's  nostrils,  and  which  consti- 
tuted Adam  a  living  soul,  thence  an  immortal  soul.  So,  also,  all 
his  posterity. 

The  soul-sleeper  tries  to  meet  our  arguments  with  such  pas- 


DOCTRINAL.  26l 

sages  as  Eccl.  3 :  19,  where  we  are  told :  "For  that  which  befalleth 
the  sons  of  men  befalleth  beasts,  even  one  thing  befalleth  them,  as 
the  one  dieth  so  dieth  the  other ;  yea,  they  have  all  one  breath ;  so 
that  a  man  hath  no  pre-eminence  above  a  beast ;  for  all  is  vanity." 
This  language,  like  many  of  the  sayings  of  Solomon,  is  very 
ambiguous,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  But,  allowing  it  all  the  force 
that  language  is  entitled  to,  it  must  be  admitted  that  Solomon 
speaks  with  reference  to  the  mortal  part  of  man ;  that  as  such  he 
must  die  the  same  as  the  beast;  that  the  breath  sustains  the  same 
relation  to  life  in  beasts  as  it  does  in  man;  that  all  created,  all 
mortal  things  are  vanity ;  all  of  which  we  freely  admit.  But  that 
there  is  no  difference  between  the  breath  of  man  and  that  of  the 
beast  in  their  relation  to  God,  we  by  no  means  admit.  The  dif- 
ference is  wide  as  eternity.  God  gave  breath  to  all  living  crea- 
tures, as  well  as  existence  itself,  by  the  operation  of  general  laws. 
He  commanded  the  waters  to  bring  forth  the  living  creatures  in 
them.  God  created  great  whales,  which  the  "waters  brought 
forth."  He  commanded  the  earth  to  bring  forth  the  living  crea- 
tures, cattle,  and  everything  after  their  kind,  and  it  was  so.  But 
with  man  it  was  not  so  accomplished,  for  God  formed  him  of  the 
dust  of  the  ground  with  His  own  hands,  by  a  special  act;  and  by 
a  special  act  He  breathed  the  breath  of  life  into  man,  which  was 
by  no  means  the  case  with  any  other  creature.  This,  we  think, 
is  a  sufficient  answer  to  such  statements  as  the  one  cited  in  Eccl. 
3 :  19.  But  as  a  further  evidence  of  the  difference  between  man 
and  all  the  other  creatures,  we  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  man 
stands,  of  all  creatures  in  point  of  intelligence,  the  highest.  What 
has  he  not  invented  ?  And  invention  is  only  one  link  below  crea- 
tion, and  that  link  God  will  ever  hold  in  His  own  hand.  If  man 
were  allowed  to  create  things,  he  would  probably  enter  upon  a 
career  of  rivalry  with  God ;  a  thing  God  never  did  and  never  will 
suffer.     He  must  and  will  maintain  His  sovereignty. 

Not  so  with  other  creatures.  The  beaver  builds  his  dam  as  did 
his  ancestors  thousands  of  years  ago.  He  has  never  so  much  as 
invented  an  ax  to  cut  down  the  trees,  but  continues  to  gnaw  them 
down  with  his  teeth  as  did  his  father  before  him.     The  noble 


262 


HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 


horse  has  never  contrived  means  by  which  to  make  man  his  serv- 
ant. Although  possessed  of  superior  strength,  he  lacks  in  intel- 
ligence. And  so  all  the  way  through  the  earth,  sky,  and  seas  ;  man 
is  the  master.  And  why  ?  Why  does  man,  instead  of  the  lion  or 
the  elephant,  build  the  railroads?  Why  does  man,  instead  of  the 
whale  or  the  sea-lion,  lay  the  submarine  cable?  All  these,  and 
a  thousand  more  questions  that  might  be  asked,  must  be  answered 
in  the  light  of  reason  and  revelation,  in  the  light  of  science  and 
intelligence,  as  follows:  Man,  by  reason  of  his  immortality,  his 
relationship  to  God,  is  endowed  with  such  superior  intelligence 
that  he  stops  short  of  nothing  but  creation  itself. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  allow  me  to  say  that,  owing  to  our 
superior  endowments  of  knowledge,  means,  and  opportunities, 
our  Father  will  hold  us  correspondingly  responsible.  We  owe 
Him  our  best  service,  our  most  humble  obedience,  our  love,  and 
our  all,  for  He  is  our  Father,  and  the  Sovereign  Progenitor  of  the 
human  race. 


DR.    C.     H.     BALSBAUGH 


CHAPTER   X 

LITERATURE 

The  early  history  of  the  Tunkers  is  not  as  barren  of  literature 
as  one  might  be  led  to  conclude  from  the  erroneous  statements 
made  by  those  who  have  attempted  to  give  a  true  and  faithful 
account  of  their  origin,  faith,  and  practice.  Indeed,  the  large 
majority  of  their  membership  are  unfamiliar  with  the  enterprise 
and  ability  of  the  fathers  during  the  first  twenty  years  of  their 
existence.  The  reason  for  such  ignorances  must  be  attributed  to 
the  criminal  indifference  of  the  lukewarm  period,  dating  from, 
say,  1790  to  1850,  in  round  dates;  or,  in  plainer  statement,  from 
the  time  when  English  speaking,  reading,  and  writing  were 
introduced  into  use  in  the  family  and  public  worship.  Had  the 
English-speaking  Tunker  been  as  faithful  in  translating  what  the 
fathers  had  written  and  published  as  were  those  who  wrote  in 
the  mother  tongue,  they  and  their  posterity  would  have  been  much 
better  informed,  and  the  historian  would  not  have  been  obliged 
to  draw  so  largely  upon  his  imagination  or  to  borrow  so  liberally 
from  the  credulity  of  others. 

The  first  two  books  published  by  the  church  were  written  in 
the  German  language,  a  translation  of  which  may  be  found  else- 
where in  this  book.  Other  small  works  were  published  by 
Christopher  Saur,  but  were  not  authorized  by  the  denomination. 

DAVIDISCHE     PSALTERSPIEL. 

The  first  hymn-book  used  by  the  Tunkers  was  entitled,  "Das 
Davidische  Psalterspiel" — David's  Psalm-song.  The  first  edi- 
tion was  printed  in  17 18.  It  was  not  printed  by  them,  but  was 
privately  published,  and  bears  no  imprint  except  the  date.  It 
was  used  by  the  Pietists  and  other  enthusiasts  and  dissenters 
from  the  leading  churches,  including  the  Tunkers  and  Mennon- 
ites.  It  contained  928  double-column  pages,  over  one  thousand 
hymns,  and  most  of  them  were  very  lengthy.     The  book  soon 

(263) 


264  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

became  very  popular  among  old  classes  of  spiritual  worshipers, 
so  that  by  1740  three  editions  had  been  issued.  It  was  to  the 
German  people  of  that  period  what  the  " Gospel  Hymns"  were 
to  the  American  Christians  of  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

The  first  Tunker  emigrants  to  America  brought  but  a  few 
copies  of  their  song-book  with  them  to  their  new  home,  perhaps 
partly  on  account  of  its  large  size  and  great  weight.  As  the 
churches  in  America  increased  in  numbers,  there  was  a  demand 
for  hymn-books.  On  account  of  the  heavy  expense  and  other 
difficulties  attending  the  importation  of  books  from  Germany,  it 
was  found  impracticable  to  import  the  old  book.  And  inasmuch 
as  there  was  some  objection  to  the  book  on  account  of  its  weight 
and  bulk,  the  brethren  began  to  devise  plans  by  which  an 
abridged  edition  might  be  published.  We  find  it  difficult  to 
learn  who  were  the  prime  movers  in  this  first  work  in  America, 
as  no  names  were  attached  to  the  preface.  This  seems  to  have 
been  a  preference  among  the  early  authors  of  religious  literature, 
as  neither  the  original  Psalterspiel,  the  German  Reformed  Hymn- 
book  of  1807,  the  Mennonite  German  Hymn-book,  and  four  editions 
of  the  Ephratah  Hymn-book  have  any  names  of  the  compilers 
attached  to  their  introductions.  However,  we  have  good  author- 
ity for  stating  that  Christopher  Saur,  Alexander  Mack,  and  Peter 
Becker  took  part  in  the  work ;  and  it  was  decided  to  publish  Das 
Kleine  Davidische  Psalterspiel.  Some  of  the  longer  hymns  in  the 
old  book  were  abridged,  and  some  omitted  entirely,  some  sub- 
stituted by  original  productions ;  and  soon  the  work  was  ready 
for  press.  The  first  edition  was  printed  by  Christopher  Saur, 
Germantown,  Penn.,  1744.  It  contained  530  pages  and  536 
hymns.  Below  we  offer  an  introductory  paragraph  from  the 
preface  of  the  first  edition  : — 

2>fe  Urfadjen  biefe§  fletne  ®at)tbtfd)e  $falterfptel  f)erau§  3  it  qeben, 
ift  gemefen,  toetl  in  benen  SSerfammlitugett  ber  ©lieberftfjaft  oft  groffer 
Mangel  an  ®efang=23iidjern  toar,  unb  in  mandjen  SSerfammlungen 
gtuet),  ja  bretyertet)  Sieber*biid)er  maren,  barnm  nntrbe  man  ratf)§,  bafc 
man  ein  ©efanfl&ud)  brucfen  lieffe ;  man  mar  and)  einftimmig  bk 
me^reften  nnb  befantefien  Sieber  au%  bem  bi§Jer  moljl  befanten  gr5f» 


LITERATURE.  265 

fern  $falterfpiet  t)erau§  p  mafjten,  beren  2Mobepen  am  meiften 
befannt  finb,  unb  in  bie§  format  p  bringen*  9)tan  Ijat  fief)  aud) 
befliffen,  nact)  bem  atlerunpartfjeDifdjten  Sinn  p  Ijanbeln,  bafc  man 
audj  au§  anberer  2tutf)oren  ©efang=23ud)er  Steber  <m§gelefen,  nebft 
einigen  Siebern,  toeld)e  man  in  9ftanufcript  gefunben,  fo  bafc  man 
aflerbinge  fagen  Ian,  bafc  e§  ein  gang  unpartei)ifd)e§  ©efangbud)  fet), 
ja  ein  einfaitige§  $tumen=@arilein  Don  allerlet)  ©orten  SBtumen  ober 
Siebern,  Dor  afle  folate  Stebfyaber,  bte  ben  §@rrn  mit  §er§  unb  9Jhmb 
toben*  Unb  toeil  man  ntdjt  gefinnet  tft  Diet  ^ntjmenS  t»on  biefem  ©e= 
fang=23ud)  in  ber  $orrebe  p  madjen,  urn  e§  f)od)  in  bie  §of)e  p  ftellen, 
(gleicfjtDte  man  Don  anberen  Slutporen  fiefyet),  fo  lafet  man  biefe§  2Ber! 
fid)  felbft  ritijmen,  bann  man  meife  roof)I,  ba$  nod)  a((e§  in  ber  Unt>oE= 
fommenfyeit  auf  ber  ©rben  tft;  fo  fino  and)  nod)  ade  Sieber=23itd)er  mit 
p  3dt)len  nnter  ben  UnDoltfommenfjeiten:  £)arum  tft  and)  nod)  fein 
Dotlfommen  ©efang^ud)  fierau§  gegeben  ioorben,  fonbern  ein  jebe§ 
Ijat  nod)  einen  DJlangel,  unb  mufe  fid)  xifyten  laffen;  barnm  giebt  man 
aud)  biefe§  ©efang^uc^  bem  Urtljeil  iiber,  unb  nennet  e§  einfaltig  mit 
bem  s#amen:  2)a§  fteine  $falterfpiet,  gleidjmie  bie  tfjeuerften  Seljren 
3@fu  mit  bem  geringen  £itut  fd)led)tf)in  genennet  toerben:  ®a3  neue 
Seftament 

SKeilen  aber  bod)  aHe§  ©ute  baZ  ber  ©eift  ®Dtk%  mitrfet,  e§  fet)  im 
ftkben,  33dten  ober  im  Sieberflufe,  Ijerfommt  au§  bem  Dollfomtnenen 
sJJceer  ber  ©bttlid)feit;  barum  etlet  aud)  alle§  biefe§  mieber  p  feinem 
Urfprung,  ba  e§  bann  in  ^otItomment)eit  oor  bem  £f)ron  ©£>tre3  ba% 
Dottfommene  Sob  mieber  fan  erreicben*  2)arum  follen  nun  aud)  bit 
©taubigeu  auf  (§rben  mit  einanber  fid)  nod)  erbauen,  nad)  bem  D^att) 
be§  fjeiligen  2tpoftel§  $auli,  ba  er  fpridjt:  O^ebet  mit  einanber  Don 
$falmen  unb  Sobgefdngen,  unb  geiftlidjen  Siebern,  finget  unb  fpielet 
bem  §@rrn  in  eurem  §er§eru  @plj*  5,  6*  ®arum  mirb  ba%  Sob  Don 
ben  ©laubigen  auf  (Srben  fo  lange  todljren,  bi§  ba%  DoIIfommene  Sob 
fid)  toirb  offenbaren*  @o  laffet  unS  nun  opfern  burd)  ifyn  ba§  Sobs 
opfer  ©Dtt  aUegeit,  baZ  tft,  bie  grud)t  ber  Sippen  berer  bie  fetnen 
D^amen  befennen,  ,§eb+  13,  15* 

@§  mirb  bk  3dt  nod)  geboren  merben,  bafc  biefe§  in  bk  (grfitttitng 
gefjen  mirb  moDon  oer  ^rop^et  3efaia§  fpria^t:  2Bir  f)bren  Sobgefang 
oom  @nbe  ber  ©rben  p  (Srjren  bem  ©erea^ten;  nun  aber  tjei&t  e§  noc§ 
oftmal§:  2lber  mie  bin  icb  fo  magen 

9tun  ber  §@rr  laffe  feine  SSerljeiffung  batb  in  (SrfiiEung  ge^en  pm 
Xroft  alter  martenben  Seelen  im  ©tauben  ber  §offnung  3ton§,  unb 
bafe  ber  ©eift  unb  bk  SBraut  fprea^en:  ^omm,  unb  mer  e§  Joret  ber 
fprea^e  fomm,  unb  mer  ba  mid,  ber  nejme  ba§  SBaffer  be§  Seber.§ 
umfonft 

§aEeluja,  §eit  unb  $rei&,  @^re  unb  f  raft  fep  ©Ott 
unferm  §®rrn  in  ©migfeit,  2lmen! 


266  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

This  new  book  was  extensively  used  throughout  the  entire 
brotherhuod,  and  occasional  copies  of  the  later  editions  may  still 
be  found,  and,  possibly,  occasionally  used  in  the  German  churches 
of  eastern  Pennsylvania.  Saur  published  four  editions  of  it: 
First,  1744;  second,  1760;  third,  1764;  and  fourth,  1777-  Steiner 
and  Cist,  of  Philadelphia,  published  an  edition  in  1781.  Then 
Samuel  Saur  issued  three  editions,  the  first  dated  1791,  and  the 
third,  1797.  Michael  Billmeyer,  of  Germantown,  printed  three 
editions,  dated  respectively,  1797,  181 3,  and  18 17.  So  says  our 
historian ;  but  we  have  before  us  a  copy  of  the  book  in  excellent 
condition,  like  new,  and  clean,  bearing  the  imprint,  'Third 
Improved  Edition,  Germantown,  Printed  by  Michael  Billmeyer, 
181 3."  It  is  probable  that  the  second  edition  was  issued  previous 
to  181 3.  This  copy  was  presented  to  the  author  of  this  book  by 
Sister  Elizabeth  Gantz,  of  Boonesboro,  Maryland.  I  have  also 
in  my  possession  a  copy  of  the  first  edition,  published  by  Michael 
Billmeyer,  1797.  This  book  was  used  by  my  grandfather,  John 
Holsinger,  Sr.,  whose  wife  was  a  granddaughter  of  Alexander 
Mack,  Jr.  On  one  of  the  fly  leaves  is  written  in  his  own  hand,  we 
presume,  the  following:  "Johannes  Holtzinger,  Geheart  dieses 
Buck." 

I  have  also  another  copy  printed  by  Schaeffer  and  Maund, 
1 8 16,  and  being  the  first  improved  edition,  This  edition  was 
copyrighted  by  Frederick  George  Schaeffer  in  the  District  of 
Maryland,  of  which  Philip  Moore  was  clerk.  This  is  also  in 
good  condition. 

Then  Henry  Ritter,  a  German  stationer  of  Philadelphia,  had 
an  edition  printed  in  Germany,  which  bears  the  imprint  Germania, 
1829.  Next  George  Mentz  and  Son,  of  Philadelphia,  had  the  book 
stereotyped  about  1833,  and  after  that  all  traces  were  lost  as  to 
editions.  The  elder  Mentz  died  in  1850,  and  the  plates  were 
destroyed  by  fire,  hence  no  copy  can  be  found  of  a  later  date. 
Thirteen  of  the  fourteen  editions  named  above  are  in  the  custody 
of  the  Cassel  library. 


LITERATURE.  267 

EDUCATIONAL. 

An  effort  was  made  by  the  early  Tunkers  to  establish  a  high 
school  at  Germantown,  Pennsylvania.  According  to  data,  a  pub- 
lic meeting  was  called  on  December  6,  1759,  at  the  house  of 
Daniel  Mackinet   (which  still  exists). 

At  this  meeting  it  was  resolved  that  a  commodious  building 
be  erected  near  the  center  of  Germantown  for  the  use  of  an  Eng- 
lish and  High  German  school,  and  suitable  dwellings  for  the 
teachers  to  reside  in. 

At  the  same  meeting  a  subscription  was  "set  on  foot,"  and  those 
present,  generously  subscribed  thereto.' 

"Christopher  Saur,  Batlas  Reser,  Daniel  Mackinet,  John  Jones, 
and  Charles  Bensell  were  appointed  to  promote  and  receive  sub- 
scriptions from  all  such  well-affected  and  generous  persons  as 
were  willing  to  contribute  to  the  undertaking."  It  was  also 
agreed  that  the  trustees  be  chosen  by  and  out  of  the  contributors, 
the  first  choice  to  be  made  on  January  I,  1760,  and  that  a  plan  for 
the  government  of  the  school  should  also  on  that  day  be  laid 
before  the  contributors,  who  should  also  choose  from  among  them 
managers  for  the  building." 

The  contributors  met,  as  arranged,  on  the  first  day  of  January, 
1760,  when  it  was  discovered  that  the  subscriptions  had  been  so 
liberal  as  to  afford  them  good  hopes  of  success. 

A  rough  draft  of  the  fundamental  articles  and  a  system  for 
the  organization  of  the  school  was  submitted,  and  after  being 
approved  of,  it  was  intrusted  to  Joseph  Gallaway,  an  eminent 
lawyer  of  the  day,  to  be  put  into  proper  form. 

Managers  for  the  building  were  then  selected ;  Richard  Johnson 
was  appointed  treasurer,  and  Christopher  Saur,  Thomas  Rosse, 
John  Jones,  Daniel  Mackinet,  Jacob  Keyser,  John  Bowman, 
Charles  Bensell,  Jacob  Naglee,  and  Benjamin  Engle,  were  chosen 
trustees. 

The  managers  of  the  building  were  then  directed  to  select  a  suit- 
able lot,  and  to  submit  a  plan  and  estimate  of  cost  at  the  next 
meeting. 

This  was  held  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month.     The  plan  of  gov- 


268  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

government  having  been  written  out,  as  ordered,  was  read  and 
approved.  After  reciting,  as  an  inducement  to  the  enterprise,  the 
importance  of  a  liberal  education  to  the  well-being  of  society,  and 
that  the  people  of  Germantown  had  long  suffered  inconvenience 
for  want  of  a  well-regulated  school,  it  provides,  among  other 
things,  that  the  institution  about  to  be  established  shall  be  free  to 
persons  of  all  religious  denominations  ;  that  the  trustees  shall  be 
annually  elected  by  contributors  to  the  amount  of  forty  shillings  ; 
that  the  number  of  trustees  "shall  be  thirteen,  and  no  more,  and 
that  they  shall  be  reputable  persons  in  the  community." 

At  the  same  meeting  the  managers  of  the  building  reported  that 
they  had  selected  a  lot,  "in  the  lane  or  cross-street,  leading  toward 
the  Schuylkill,  commonly  called  Bensell  Lane,"  which,  being 
agreed  to,  the  lot  was  purchased  from  the  owners,  John  and 
George  Bringhurst. 

On  the  8th  of  February  a  plan  of  the  schoolhouse  and  houses 
for  the  professors  (or  masters)  was  approved,  and  they  were 
directed  to  proceed  with  the  building  as  soon  as  the  season 
permitted. 

On  the  ioth  of  April  following,  the  money  was  paid  for  the 
lot,  and  a  deed  executed  on  the  17th. 

April  21,  1760,  was  the  day  appointed  to  lay  the  foundation  of 
the  schoolhouse.  The  trustees,  with  the  managers  and  contrib- 
utors, assembled,  and  four  corner-stones  were  laid. 

The  occasion  does  not  appear  to  have  been  distinguished  by 
any  special  ceremony,  as  only  a  simple  record  of  it  was  made  in 
the  minutes,  but  doubtless  friendly  greetings  were  exchanged, 
and  suitable  recognition  taken  of  the  occasion. 

In  September,  1 761,  the  schoolhouse  was  finished  and  opened 
for  the  reception  of  scholars.  Hilarius  Becker  was  the  German 
teacher,  and  David  James  Dove  the  English  teacher,  and  Thomas 
Pratt  the  English  assistant  teacher. 

The  school  received  the  immediate  encouragement  from  the 
people,  as  appears  from  the  fact  that  on  the  16th  of  the  following 
October  it  had  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  pupils,  sixty-one  in  the 
English,  and  seventy  in  the  German  department,  proving  that  the 


LITERATURE.  269 

founders  had  justly  appreciated  the  character  and  wants  of  the 
community. 

As  has  been  intimated  elsewhere,  the  Tunkers  lost  their  repu- 
tation for  intelligence  during  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  They  were  not  only  indifferent  to  their  privileges,  but 
stood  in  opposition  to  all  educational  accomplishments  beyond 
that  of  ability  to  read  the  Bible.  Let  it  be  understood,  however, 
that  this  assertion  has  reference  to  individuals  and  individual 
congregations  only,  for  at  least  forty  years  after  the  days  of  the 
Macks,  Saurs,  Becker,  and  Keyser.  The  cause  of  the  degeneracy 
is  also  accounted  for  in  the  same  connection. 

About  the  year  1850  the  few  friends  of  education  in  the 
brotherhood  began  to  make  efforts  looking  toward  the  establish- 
ment of  schools  of  a  higher  grade.  No  sooner  was  this  discern- 
ible than  the  opponents  of  the  work  took  the  question  to  the 
annual  meeting,  "How  is  it  considered  by  the  brethren,  if  brethren 
aid  and  assist  in  building  great  houses  for  high  schools,  and  send 
their  children  to  the  same?"  To  this  they  received  the  reply, 
"Brethren  should  be  very  cautious,  and  not  mind  high  things." 

We  are  not  told  whence  the  query  came,  but  undoubtedly  it  was 
in  response  to  the  first  effort  made  to  establish  a  high  school. 
This  honor  belongs  to  Brother  Jacob  Miller,  of  Bedford  County, 
Pennsylvania,  of  whom  a  biography  will  be  found  elsewhere.  It 
occurred  in  the  year  1852,  and  there  are  still  several  of  the  first 
students  of  the  school  living  and  in  active  life.  Unfortunately 
for  the  effort,  Brother  Miller  was  cut  down  by  that  relentless  foe 
of  man's  ambition, — death. 

Nine  years  after  the  failure  of  this  enterprise,  on  the  1st  of 
April,  1861,  Prof.  S.  Z.  Sharp  took  charge  of  the  Kishacoquillas 
Seminary,  in  Mifflin  County,  Pennsylvania.  At  this  institution 
several  brethren  of  more  or  less  prominence  in  the  church  received 
their  literary  impulse,  but  it  continued  a  few  years  only  for  want 
of  patronage. 

About  the  same  time  Elder  James  Quinter  attempted  to  build 
up  a  school  at  New  Vienna,  Ohio,  which  he  continued  for  four 
vears,  and  it  died  for  the  same  reason. 


27O  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

The  next  effort  was  made  at  Bourbon,  Indiana,  and  was  called 
Salem  College,  and  advertised  as  being  second  to  no  institution  of 
education  in  Europe  or  America.  Although  its  friends  labored 
hard  to  keep  up  the  school  with  patronage  and  other  influence, 
after  supporting  it  for  about  four  years  it  died  also,  and  at  the 
loss  of  considerable  money,  which  had  been  invested  in  the  prop- 
erty, to  the  great  discouragement  of  the  friends  of  higher  Tunker 
attainment. 

April  13,  1874,  Brother  Lewis  Kimmel  opened  a  school  at 
Elderton,  Armstrong  County,  Pennsylvania,  called  Plumcreek 
Normal  School,  which  attained  a  very  respectable  attendance  in 
a  short  time ;  but  owing  to  opposition  from  within  and  without, 
it  died  also,  after  a  brief  existence. 

Nothing  daunted  by  these  failures,  the  friends  of  education 
continued  their  efforts.  In  the  winter  of  1872  an  educational 
meeting  was  called  by  the  western  districts  of  Pennsylvania, 
which  convened  at  Martinsburg,  Blair  County.  At  this  meeting 
it  was  decided  to  establish  a  school  of  higher  grade  at  Berlin, 
Somerset  County,  to  be  called  The  Brethren  High  School  of 
Berlin.  The  following  was  the  plan  of  procedure.  H.  R. 
Holsinger  was  provided  with  the  following  subscription  list : — 

"We,  the  undersigned,  hereby  obligate  ourselves  to  pay,  or 
cause  to  be  paid,  the  amounts  set  opposite  our  .respective  names, 
for  the  purpose,  in  the  manner,  and  upon  conditions  following : — 

"1.  Said  moneys  shall  be  appropriated  for  the  building  and 
establishing  of  a  school  of  the  higher  grade,  at  Berlin,  Somerset 
County,  Pennsylvania,  to  be  known  as  The  Brethren  High 
School  of  Berlin. 

"2.  This  school  shall  be  under  the  immediate  control  of  the 
shareholders,  subject,  however,  to  the  following  rules  of  prin- 
ciple : — 

"1.  Members  of  the  Church  of  the  Brethren,  who  are  in  full 
standing  in  the  church,  shall  alone  be  eligible  to  the  office  of 
director,  or  to  the  position  of  teacher. 

"2.  While  it  shall  not  be  the  purpose  or  object  of  the  school  to 
inculcate  theological  or  sectarian  doctrines,  nevertheless,  in  life 


LITERATURE.  27 1 

and  conduct  it  shall  be  the  aim  and  purpose  of  the  managers  and 
teachers  to  exhibit  the  distinctive  features  that  characterize  the 
church. 

"3.  One-fourth  of  the  amount  subscribed  shall  be  paid  within 
one  year  of  the  date  of  subscription,  as  may  be  demanded  by  the 
board  of  directors. 

"4.  For  the  remaining  three-fourths,  we  will  give  a  bond  or 
mortgage,  upon  which  we  will  pay  six  per  cent  interest,  annually, 
for  the  period  of  ten  years,  when  the  bond  or  mortgage  shall  be 
null  or  void.  Each  shareholder  shall,  however,  have  the  privilege 
to  pay  up  his  interest  in  lieu  of  giving  a  bond. 

"5.  Each  five  hundred  dollars  shall  be  denominated  one  share, 
and  the  holder  thereof  shall  be  entitled  to  five  votes  in  the  munici- 
pal management  of  said  school,  and  to  his  pro  rata  share  of  the 
dividends.  One  hundred  dollars  shall  be  denominated  one-fifth 
share,  and  command  one  vote,  etc. 

"5.  Unless  subscriptions  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  ($100,000)  shall  be  secured,  no  part  of  these  sub- 
scriptions shall  be  collectable." 

On  this  subscription  over  sixty  thousand  dollars  were  secured, 
but  the  financial  crash  of  1875-76  struck  it  too  hard,  and  the  effort 
miscarried. 

The  brethren  of  Berlin  made  an  effort  during  the  fall  of  1874 
to  establish  the  school  at  the  Old  Grove  church,  one  mile  north 
of  town,  and  endeavored  to  secure  the  services  of  Prof.  J.  M. 
Zuck,  and  would,  no  doubt,  have  been  successful  had  not  Brother 
Zuck  been  attacked  by  one  of  his  frequent  indispositions  just  at 
the  time  when  it  was  desired  to  open  the  school.  The  flame  kin- 
dled by  this  effort,  however,  continued  to  burn.  The  next  seen 
of  it  was  at  Huntingdon,  in  1875,  where  Brother  Zuck  opened  a 
normal  school,  which  effort  became  eminently  successful,  and  was 
the  first  success  met  with  in  the  history  of  the  church.  For 
further  particulars  see  Juniata  College. 

The  success  at  Huntingdon  seemed  to  inspire  enthusiasm  in 
favor  of  high  schools  throughout  the  entire  brotherhood.  Even 
conservative   Ohio  caught  the  contagion,   and   Ashland   College 


272  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

proved  the  next  enterprise.  This  institution  was  chartered  in  1878, 
by  the  German  Baptist  Church  in  the  state  of  Ohio.  Being  located 
in  a  wealthy  settlement,  there  appeared  to  be  no  difficulty  in  rais- 
ing money  for  building  purposes,  and  being  in  the  hands  of  thor- 
oughly progressive  members,  the  enterprise  did  not  lack  any  of 
the  essential  elements  of  success.  Prof.  S.  Z.  Sharp,  founder  of 
the  Kishacoquillas  School,  who  had  meanwhile  drifted  away  from 
the  church  into  a  Presbyterian  College  in  Tennessee,  was  elected 
president  of  Ashland  College.  The  school  started  out  with  sixty 
students  the  first  day,  and  attained  an  enrollment  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty-seven  on  the  opening  of  the  second  year.  While 
Professor  Sharp  was  a  popular  teacher,  he  lacked  in  executive 
ability  as  the  head  of  the  institution.  He  soon  became  involved 
in  personal  disputes  with  the  trustees,  and  was  obliged  to  resign. 
Elder  R.  H.  Miller  was  chosen  successor  to  Sharp.  He  had  none 
of  the  qualifications  of  president  of  a  Tunker  college,  except  his 
Tunkerism.  He,  too,  found  it  more  convenient  to  resign  his  posi- 
tion than  to  fill  it,  and  his  resignation  was  promptly  accepted.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  pursue  the  history  of  Ashland  College  if 
the  scope  of  my  work  would  permit.  With  the  retirement  of 
R.  H.  Miller,  Ashland  College  ceased  to  be  a  German  Baptist 
School,  and  went  into  the  care  of  the  Progressives,  and  then  into 
the  hands  of  the  Brethren  Church. 

The  next  college  established  by  the  German  Baptists  is  Mount 
Morris  College.  The  buildings  of  this  institution  had  been  erected 
by  the  Methodist  Conference  of  northern  Illinois.  It  continues 
to  exist  and  to  prosper.     See  the  history  of  the  institution. 

Next  in  rotation  is  Bridgewater  College,  Virginia,  which  was 
followed  by  McPherson,  Kansas ;  Lordsburg,  California,  North 
Manchester,  Indiana ;  Plattsburg,  Missouri ;  Fruitdale,  Alabama ; 
and  there  are  rumors  of  schools  being  established  at  Smithville, 
Ohio,  and  Union  Bridge,  Maryland,  as  well  as  of  the  discontin- 
uance of  the  Plattsburg  College.  Property  of  the  German  Baptist 
colleges  is  now  estimated  at  fully  $500,000,  and  the  number  of 
students  is  figured  at  2,000. 


CHAPTER   XI 
DENOMINA  TIONAL 

GERMAN     BAPTISTS. 

Note. — It  was  not  my  intention  originally  to  extend  the  history 
of  the  German  Baptists  and  the  Old  German  Baptists  beyond  the 
time  of  the  general  division  in  1882,  but  the  splendid  progress 
which  both  the  conservative  branches  of  the  Tunkers  have  made 
since  they  have  operated  alone,  has  created  a  desire  in  the  heart 
of  the  author  to  bear  testimony  of  approval  to  their  work. 
Besides,  it  appears  becoming  at  the  close  of  the  second  century 
since  their  origin,  to  make  a  brief  record  of  the  facts  relating  to 
the  status  of  each  denomination  at  the  closing  date  of  this  work, 
as  it  is  not  likely  that  another  effort  at  writing  the  history  of  this 
people  will  be  attempted  very  soon.  I  have,  therefore,  endeavored 
to  secure  data  of  the  several  interests  of  all  the  separate  divisions 
of  the  brotherhood.  It  is,  however,  unfortunate  that  the  old- 
order  brethren  are  so  indifferent,  and  I  am  afraid  a  little  preju- 
diced, in  regard  to  keeping  record  of  their  proceedings  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  obtain  statistics  of  the  number  of  churches 
or  membership.  However,  I  shall  do  as  the  apostle  said :  "Such 
as  I  have  give  I  unto  you."  In  the  item  of  missions  it  is  astonish- 
ing to  notice  the  progress  the  German  Baptist  denomination  has 
made  during  the  last  decade.  I  can  truly  say  that  I  rejoice  in 
their  progress  almost  as  much  as  if  they  were  my  own  denomina- 
tion :  For  are  we  not  all  brethren  ? 

The  German  Baptist  Church  constitutes  the  main  body  of  the 
Tunker  fraternity.  The  organization  took  nominal  form  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  1836,  when  it  was  unanimously  agreed  "To 
call  ourselves  The  Fraternity  of  German  Baptists.'  "  This  title 
was  modified  to  "The  German  Baptist  Brethren"  in  1871.  Their 
right  to  the  name  was  sustained  by  the  courts  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Ohio  during  the  transitional  state  of  the  denomination  in  the 
investigation  of  title  to  church  property  in  several  counties  of  the 
18  (273) 


274  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

states  above  named.  Their  claims  were  sustained  by  the  courts 
upon  the  representation  that  the  German  Baptists  had  successively 
maintained,  sustained,  and  upheld  and  controlled  the  annual  meet- 
ings as  the  denominational  conference  of  the  body  from  its  first 
organization.  The  courts  could  not,  therefore,  do  otherwise  than 
to  recognize  the  German  Baptist  Church  as  the  legal  representa- 
tives. It  was  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  to  decide 
upon  the  claim  to  the  ecclesiastical  or  doctrinal  succession.  That 
question  still  remains  open  to  discussion. 

The  Brethren  Church,  organized  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  1882,  on 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  is  as  precious  to  me  as  the  organization  of 
the  Church  of  the  Brethren  at  Schwarzenau,  in  1708.  I  am  a 
charter  member  of  the  former,  and  a  legal  descendant  of  the  latter. 
Either  of  them  is  good  enough,  and  neither  can  help  to  salvation 
unless  the  will  of  the  Father  is  done. 

Previous  to  1836  no  name  was  known  among  the  Tunkers, 
legally  or  otherwise,  except  that  of  the  Brethren.  By  outsiders 
they  were  called  Dunkards,  a  vulgarism  for  Tunker.  (For  par- 
ticulars see  Glossary.) 

While  we  are  told  that  it  was  unanimously  concluded  to  call 
ourselves  "The  Fraternity  of  German  Baptists"  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  1836,  it  is  a  fact  that,  during  my  recollections,  the 
name  of  German  Baptist  was  not  generally  acceptable.  It  was 
tolerated  because  an  idea  had  obtained  among  the  membership 
that  another  name  than  that  of  Brethren  was  required  to  validate 
claims  to  church  property.  That  was  all  a  mistake,  but  it 
answered  the  purpose  of  retaining  the  original  name  for  the  latest 
organization,  which  is  one  of  its  technical  inheritances. 

It  may,  therefore,  be  said  that  from  1836  to  1882  all  Tunkers 
were  German  Baptists.  Having  had  the  prestige  of  priority  and 
seniority,  as  well  as  the  advantages  of  a  well-established  organiza- 
tion, they  would  naturally  keep  in  the  van  of  church  work. 
Whatever  has  been  said  of  the  Tunkers  of  the  period  above 
referred  to,  may  be  attributed  to  the  German  Baptists.  Their  his- 
tory may  be  found  in  this  work  in  general  up  to  the  time  of  the 
division  of  the  Tunkers,  during  the  period  of  1879  to  1882,  when 


DENOMINATIONAL.  275 

the  body  was  divided  into  three  parts :  The  ultra  conservatives 
withdrawing  from  the  body,  and  becoming  the  Old  German  Bap- 
tists ;  the  conservatives  remaining  the  German  Baptists ;  and  the 
progressives,  having  been  expelled  by  the  German  Baptists  for 
being  progressive,  organized  the  Brethren  Church,  as  nearly  as 
possible,  on  the  original  platform. 

Besides  the  advantages  above  mentioned,  the  German  Baptists 
had  the  benefit  of  the  progressive  era,  dating  from  about  i860. 
This  age  of  prosperity  brought  to  the  church  not  less  than  three 
well-established  colleges,  an  organized  missionary  society,  with 
at  least  an  incipient  endowment,  several  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars of  church  property  with  undisputed  title,  a  host  of  well- 
educated  ministers,  the  fruits  of  their  own  schools,  and  a  well- 
equipped  publishing  house,  and  last  but  not  least  from  a  pecuniary 
point  of  view,  a  large  percentage  of  the  wealthy  membership. 

I  am  unable  to  account  for  the  wonderful  enthusiasm  which 
entered  the  denominations  almost  immediately  after  the  separa- 
tion. Some  of  them  claimed  that  it  was  because  of  their  freedom 
from  incumbrances,  while  others  declared  that  they  had  need  of 
the  progressives,  and  felt  the  loss  of  them  in  their  local  and 
general  work.  It  is,  however,  a  well-established  fact,  that  from 
that  time  onward  the  German  Baptist  Church  has  made  splendid 
progress.  She  has  2,400  names  on  her  list  of  ministers,  many  of 
whom  are  elders  and  bishops. 

MISSIONARY. 

The  General  Missionary  and  Tract  Committee  presented  the 
following  report,  for  the  year  ending  March  31,  1900: — 

India. — At  Bulsar  ten  sub-stations  are  visited  regularly,  at  some 
of  which  native  members  reside. 

Number  of  members,  native 45 

Total  number  of  members 55 

Pages  of  tracts  distributed 8,000 

Whole  or  parts  of  Bible  sold  or  given  away 811 

Accessions  to  the  church,  four  of  whom  are  orphans      17 
Total  membership  in  India 56 


276  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Six  native  members  are  helping  in  the  out  stations. 
During  the  past  year  an  orphanage  was  built,  and  about  two 
hundred  famine  children  were  cared  for  and  instructed.  Over 
fifteen  thousand  dollars  were  donated  and  disbursed  in  the  sup- 
port for  the  relief  of  famishing  India  previous  to  April,  1900,  not 
one  cent  of  which  was  used  for  clerical  purposes  in  this  country 
or  by  the  missionaries  in  India. 

Three  persons  were  received  into  the  church  at  Novsari. 
Asia  Minor. — No  progress  is  reported  for  1899.  The  com- 
mittee is  making  an  effort  to  send  a  man  into  the  field,  which  is 
regarded  as  a  difficult  place  to  occupy.  A  number  of  members 
are  faithfully  adhering  to  the  church  without  any  financial  sup- 
port. Two  traveling  secretaries  have  been  kept  in  the  field, 
developing  missionary  sentiment  and  soliciting  funds.  They 
report  the  following  for  the  past  year : — 

Endowment  contracts $101,005 

Cash  endowment   3.700 

World-wide  mission  fund  collected 800 

FINANCIAL. 

The  following  summary  of  all  money  received  during  the  year 
of  1899  was  presented  to  the  conference  of  1900: — 

Cash  on  hand  at  beginning  of  year  ......:.  .$15,323  76 

World-wide  fund 28,518  41 

Washington  meeting-house  fund   4>335  25 

Asia  Minor  fund 268  69 

India  fund    19,677  81 

Gish  testament  fund   502  01 

Interest-bearing  fund   74,128  87 

Switzerland  meeting-house 25  68 

Total  receipts $127,456  y2 

Cash  on  hand  with  total  receipts 142,708  48 

Total   expenditures 125,588  81 

Balance  on  hand $17,191  67 


DENOMINATIONAL.  277 

The  following  statements  of  assets  of  the  church  were  also  pre- 
sented to  the  conference  of  1900 : — 

Mission  fund   $     9>926  92 

Interest-bearing  fund   167,686  47 

Publishing  house  building  and  ground 73>721  85 

Value  of  real  estate  above  investment 3, 000  00 

Gish  estate   23,500  00 

Total  assets  without  pledged  endowments .  $277,845  24 
Total  assets  without  pledged  endowments, 

March  31,  1899 255,599  69 

Increase $22,245  55 

Pledged     endowment,     interest     and     non- 
interest  bearing   $204,149  00 

Assets  as  given  above   277,845  24 

Total    $48i,994  24 

Total,  March  31,  1899 409748  66 

Increase     .  .  .' $72,245  55 

LITERATURE. 

The  church  owns  a  well-equipped  publishing  house,  which, 
during  1899,  was  m°ved  from  Mt.  Morris  to  Elgin,  Illinois.  A 
magnificent  building  was  erected  especially  for  the  business,  of 
which  I  present  the  following  description,  accompanied  by  an 
illustration  made  from  photograph. 

The  building  is  three  stories  high  and  constructed  of  brick  and 
stone  and  cost  $17,000.  It  is  warmed  throughout  by  steam,  has 
window  lights  on  four  sides,  and  is  admirably  arranged  and 
adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  built.  The  front  is  of. 
pressed  brick  with  stone  trimmings.  The  editorial  and  compos- 
ing rooms  are  on  the  third  floor,  the  mailing  and  business  rooms 
on  the  second,  and  the  presses  and  other  heavy  machinery  on 
the   first   floor.     The  building   is   located   between   two   railway 


278  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

depots,  and  so  close  to  one  of  the  lines,  that  goods  may  be  trans- 
ferred without  expense  of  drayage. 

The  committee  on  publication  report  the  following  earnings  for 
the  year  ending  March  31,  1900: — 


GERMAN     BAPTIST     PUBLISHING    HOUSE,     ELGIN,     ILL. 

Merchandise  account $  3,274  70 

Gospel  Messenger 14,095   18 

Young  Disciple  and  Children  at  Work 2,597  69 

Quarterlies    2,872  50 

Annual  meeting  report 270  07 

Subscription  books 710  19 

Advertisements    248  61 

Job    work   288  59 

Reserve  fund  and  special  income 1,158  90 


Total    $25,516  43 

Expenses 13,906  18 


Net  profit   $11,610  25 


DENOMINATIONAL. 


279 


Of  the  net  gain  $5,957.80  was  turned  over  to  the  church  mis- 
sion fund. 

The  financial  condition  of  the  house  on  April  1,  1900,  was  esti- 
mated at  $50,046.92.  This  amount  included  cash  on  hand,  reserve 
fund,  office  material,  book  accounts  for  1896  to  1899,  merchandise. 

The  entire  investment  of  the  printing  plant  is  given  at 
$73,961.85,  toward  which  there  has  been  donated  $83,947.99. 
The  difference,  $9,986.14,  is  earning  interest  for  the  world-wide 
mission. 

STATISTICAL. 


There  were  represented  at  the  conference  of  1900  the  follow- 
ing:— 

States.  Districts.      Congregations. 

Tennessee,  North  Carolina,  and  Florida.  1  3 

Virginia   2  26 

West    Virginia   2  4 

Maryland   3  7 

Pennsylvania 4  43 

Ohio   3  59 

Indiana 3  102 

Illinois  and  Wisconsin 2  36 

Missouri  and  Arkansas 3  8 

Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  Dakota    3  31 

Michigan   1  7 

Nebraska   1  7 

Kansas,  Colorado,  and  Oklahoma 4  13 

Texas  and  Louisiana 1  1 

Oklahoma  and  Indian  Territory 1  o 

California  and  Arizona 1  2 

Oregon,  Washington,  and  Idaho 1  1 

Denmark   1  o 

Sweden    1  o 

Asia   Minor 1  o 

India    1  o 


28o 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


EDUCATIONAL. 


The    German    Baptists    support    the    following    schools    and 
colleges  directly  or  indirectly  under  the  auspices  of  the  church : — 


MPHERSON    COLLEGE. 


This  institution  was  chartered  in  1877,  and  a  dormitory  costing 
about  $20,000  erected  at  once.  This  building  was  both  used  for 
dormitory  and  recitation  purposes  during  two  years.  The  main 
college  building,  94x117  feet,  was  then  begun.     Due  to  financial 


qx 


M'PHERSON     COLLEGE,     KANSAS 

embarrassments  this  building  was  not  placed  under  permanent 
roof  until  1897. 

This  institution  has  successfully  fought  its  battle  with  the  mort- 
gages, is  now  without  debt,  possesses  grounds,  buildings,  and 
apparatus  valued  at  $75,000,  has  a  charter  which  forbids  mort- 
gaging the  property  of  the  institution,  annually  enrolls  about  four 
hundred  students,  and  its  faculty  and  instructors  number  from 
eighteen  to  twenty.  Eight  members  of  the  faculty  are  college  or 
university    graduates    (from    Harvard,    University  of    Chicago, 


282 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


Illinois,  Wesleyan  University,  Kansas  State  University,  etc.),  and 
seven  others  are  graduates  of  professional  schools  or  departments. 
The  college  sustains  preparatory,  commercial,  normal,  col- 
legiate, oratorical,  Biblical,  German,  and  musical  departments, 
five  courses  in  academic,  normal,  and  collegiate  departments, 
the  model  school  for  teacher-training,  and  the  chair  of  pedagogy, 
which  are  recognized  by  the  Kansas  State  Board  of  Education, 
and  normal  and  collegiate  graduates  receive  state  certificates  to 
teach  in  Kansas. 


M'PHERSON    COLLEGE,     KANSAS 


Present  officers :  Elder  C.  E.  Arnold,  Ph.  B.,  A.  M.,  president ; 
Elder  Edward  Frantz,  A.  B.  M.,  vice-president;  S.  B.  Fahnestock, 
A.  B.,  M.  C.  S.,  secretary  and  treasurer. 


PLATTSDURG     COLLEGE. 


Plattsburg  College,  Missouri,  was  for  many  years  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Disciple  Church,  but  was  purchased  by  the  Ger- 
'man  Baptist  Brethren,  in  1897,  and  deeded  to  the  state  districts  of 
that  church  located  in  Missouri,  and  the  state  districts  adjoining 


1.    if 

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it     ii 

IS        II 

II 
II 
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BRIDGEWATER    COLLEGE,     VA. 


284  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Missouri  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  to  those  districts  it 
legally  belongs. 

Committee  of  reference:  Elders  M.  T.  Baer,  David  Hilder- 
brand,  F.  W.  Dove,  Merril  Hodgen,  George  Wise,  and  Archy 
Van  Dyke.  S.  Z.  Sharp  is  president  and  professor  of  mental  and 
moral  science  and  Bible  department. 

This  college  has  academic,  commercial,  musical,  Biblical,  and 
normal  courses,  and  also  correspondence  department — Bible 
course.  The  plan  adopted  for  this  latter  course  is  unique  and 
simple,  and  suited  to  the  aged  as  well  as  to  the  child  of  twelve 
years.  There  is  an  earnest  demand  for  this  course  by  those  who 
can  not  afford  to  leave  home.  By  this  plan  the  student  can  obtain 
instruction  at  a  low  rate,  and  save  board  and  car  fare. 

For  further  particulars  address,  Plattsburg,  Missouri. 

BRIDGEWATER    COLLEGE. 

In  1880  Prof  D.  C.  Flory  opened  the  Spring  Creek  Normal 
School  and  Collegiate  Institute,  being  assisted  by  J.  R.  Shipman, 
an  efficient  teacher.  In  the  first  session  fifteen  students  attended, 
and  in  the  second  session  there  were  thirty  students. 

Before  the  third  session  the  school  was  moved  to  Bridgewater, 
and  the  name  was  changed  to  Virginia  Normal  School.  Faculty : 
D.  C.  Flory,  principal ;  Daniel  Hays,  J.  R.  Shipman,  George  B. 
Holsinger.     Attendance,  fifty-two  students. 

A  commodious  building  40x80,  three  stories  high,  was  erected, 
and  ready  for  the  fourth  session.  Faculty :  D.  C.  Flory,  J.  E. 
Miller,  Miss  Sallie  A.  Kagey,  and  George  B.  Holsinger.  Attend- 
ance, eighty. 

Fifth  session.  S.  N.  McCann  was  added  to  the  faculty,  and 
eighty-seven  students  were  enrolled. 

For  the  sixth  session  Mrs.  George  B.  Holsinger  took  the  place 
of  Miss  Kagey,  and  in  the  spring  term  Prof.  Carson  Miller  was 
secured.     Eighty-one  students. 

Seventh  session.  Faculty :  Daniel  Hays,  principal ;  J.  B. 
Wrightsman,  E.  A.  Miller,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  B.  Holsinger. 
Students,  seventy-two. 


DENOMINATIONAL.  285 

Eighth  session.  Faculty :  E.  A.  Miller,  A.  B.,  Principal ;  J.  B. 
Wrightsman,  E.  M.  Crouch,  Miss  Kate  M.  Flory,  J.  M.  Coffman, 
C.  E.  Arnold,  George  B.  Holsinger,  and  Mrs.  Fannie  Wrights- 
man.     Closed  with  one  hundred  and  eleven  students. 

The  name  was  changed  to  Bridgewater  College,  and  in  1888-89 
there  were  nine  teachers  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  students,  good 
location,  attractive  scenery,  and  mild  and  salubrious  climate. 

MOUNT     MORRIS     COLLEGE. 

Mount  Morris  College  has  been  reared  upon  the  ruins  of  Rock 
River  Seminary.  Away  back  in  the  thirties  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  a  few  public-spirited  men  of  the  Pine  Creek  settlement 


MT.    MORRIS    COLLEGE,     ILL. 

determined  that  the  Pine  Creek  Grammar  School  should  develop 
into  a  seminary.  Some  time  afterward  the  Methodist  Conference 
concluded  to  establish  an  institution  of  learning  in  northern 
Illinois.  The  committee  on  location  decided  in  favor  of  Mount 
Morris.  On  the  fourth  of  July,  1839,  the  corner-stone  was  laid, 
and  the  institution  received  the  name  of  Rock  River  Seminary. 
Under  the  liberal  patronage  of  those  enterprising  settlers  the 
school  prospered  greatly. 

The  students  developed  with  the  spirit  and  energy  of  the  new 
country,  and  a  large  proportion  of  them  rose  to  distinction. 
Among  their  number  are  found  cabinet  officers,  foreign  minister, 
senators,  representatives,  governors,  judges,  leaders  in  business 
and  finance,  and  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

However,  the    Rock    River  Seminary,  during    the    seventies, 


286  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

gradually  became  involved  in  financial  difficulties,  which  finally 
ended  her  career.  Hon.  R.  R.  Hitt  purchased  the  property,  which 
he  later  disposed  of  to  Elders  Melchor  Newcomer,  D.  L.  Miller, 
and  John  W.  Stein,  for  $6,000.  They  purchased  the  property 
with  the  intention  of  starting  a  school  to  be  conducted  under  the 
auspices  of  the  German  Baptist  Church.  After  expending  sev- 
eral thousand  dollars  in  improvements,  the  school  was  reopened 
under  the  name  of  Rock  River  Seminary  and  Collegiate  Institute. 
Elder  Stein  was  elected  president,  and  D.  L.  Miller  business 
manager. 

On  August  20,  1879,  the  first  term  of  the  school  under  the  man- 
agement of  these  brethren  was  opened.  Sixty  students  were  in 
attendance.  Professor  Stein  displayed  remarkable  ability  as 
president  of  the  college  and  as  an  instructor,  but  in  the  year  1881 
he  became  the  principal  of  a  disgraceful  escapade. 

On  pretence  of  going  to  Europe  for  his  health,  he  left  his  wife 
and  family,  and  eloped  with  his  ward,  Miss  Delilah  Tombaugh, 
who  had  been  living  with  the  family  and  attending  the  college. 

After  his  departure,  Elder  D.  L.  Miller  became  president,  and 
also  continued  as  business  manager  of  the  college.  Under  his 
management  the  patronage  of  the  school  rapidly  increased,  young 
men  and  women  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  country  where  mem- 
bers of  the  church  were  located. 

In  1884  the  trustees  obtained  a  new  charter  for  the  school,  and 
changed  the  name  to  Mount  Morris  College.  The  capital  stock 
at  that  time  amounted  to  $30,000.  In  that  year  Prof.  J.  G.  Rover 
invested  considerable  money  in  stock.  He  was  elected  president, 
which  position  he  has  filled  with  much  credit  ever  since.  From 
that  time  the  advancement  of  the  college  has  been  steady.  Each 
year  new  improvements  have  been  added,  and  the  equipment  and 
facilities  of  the  college  greatly  increased. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  eighties,  the  two  original  seminary 
buildings  became  inadequate  for  the  growing  necessities  of  the 
college.  Accordingly,  plans  were  set  on  foot  for  the  building  of 
a  new  temple  of  instruction,  the  present  college.  About  $20,000 
were  necessary  for  the  erection  of  the  desired  building,  and  Presi- 


~~£& 


288  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

dent  Royer  started  to  solicit  the  amount  by  subscription  through- 
out the  brotherhood.  The  canvass  proved  successful,  and  ground 
was  broken  for  the  building  in  March,  1890,  and  the  edifice  was 
completed  and  ready  for  occupancy  at  the  beginning  of  the  fall 
term  of  1891.  This  building  is  a  massive  structure.  It  is  a  plain, 
substantial,  brick-veneered  building,  with  seventy-two  feet  front, 
and  including  a  spacious  chapel,  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  feet 
long.  The  main  part  is  three  stories  above  the  basement  and 
contains  fifteen  well-arranged  rooms,  most  of  which  are  of  ample 
size. 

The  faculty  for  the  school  year,  1899- 1900,  was  as  follows: 
J.  G.  Royer,  president ;  D.  D.  Culler,  rhetoric,  literature,  and 
German ;  J.  E.  Miller,  Greek  and  Latin ;  O.  R.  Myers,  psycology, 
pedagogy,  and  French ;  G.  W.  Furrey,  higher  mathematics, 
astronomy,  and  political  economy ;  W.  L.  Eikenberry,  science  and 
civil  government ;  A.  L.  Clair,  principal  commercial  department ; 
G.  E.  Weaver,  principal  art  department;  Mrs.  Flora  E.  Teague, 
phonography  and  typewriting ;  Mrs.  Libbie  Robertson,  director  of 
music ;  Miss  Josephine  Royer,  elocution  and  physical  culture ; 
A.  W.  Ross,  vocal  music.  For  the  year  1900-01  there  are  several 
changes.  Prof.  Heber  M.  Hays  takes  the  place  of  J.  E.  Miller, 
who  accepted  a  position  in  the  State  University  at  Urbana,  and 
Miss  Lucia  McCosh,  a  graduate  of  the  Chicago  Musical  College, 
takes  Professor  Robertson's  place  as  director  of  music.  D.  D. 
Culler  withdrew  from  the  faculty  at  the  close  of  the  school  year, 
June,  1900,  and  is  now  president  of  Smithville  College,  Ohio. 
His  place  is  being  filled  by  Prof.  O.  R.  Myers.  J.  F.  Souders  is 
a  new  instructor  in  the  Bible  department ;  J.  D.  Suter  is  first 
assistant  in  the  commercial  department ;  Myrtle  Royer  conducts 
the  painting  department,  and  is  also  assistant  in  music ;  M.  W. 
Emmert  teaches  geography  and  U.  S.  history ;  and  Wallace  Fike 
is  assistant  in  the  art  department. 

LORDSBURG     COLLEGE. 

Lordsburg  College  was  founded  in  1891  by  Daniel  Houser, 
David  Kuns,  Henrv  Kuns,  and  Samuel  A.  Overholtzer,  members 


DENOMINATIONAL. 


289 


of  the  German  Baptist  Church.  They  associated  with  them 
several  other  brethren  who  soon  severed  their  relations  with  the 
institution. 

They  purchased  and  fitted  with  suitable  school  furniture  a 
magnificent  three-story  building,  which  had  been  erected  in  1888 
for  a  hotel.  The  building  originally  cost  $73,000,  and  contains 
about  130  rooms  with  twelve  bath-rooms  and  lavatories.  It  has 
a  south  front  of  183  feet,  an  east  wing  of  109  feet,  and  a  west 
wing  of  183  feet.     It  is  situated  in  a  charming  town  wholly  free 


4/ 


LORDSBURG    COLLEGE,     CALIFORNIA 

from  places  of  resort.  The  surrounding  country  is  thickly  settled 
with  an  industrious  and  cultured  class  of  people.  Good  roads 
lead  in  all  directions  through  as  fine  orange,  lemon,  and  olive 
groves  as  are  found  anywhere.  The  valley  and  mountain  scenery 
is  magnificent. 

The  last  two  named  founders  have  since  died,  and  the  present 
trustees  are  Daniel  Houser,  David  Kuns,  John  S.  Kuns,  J.  W. 
Cline,  and  W.  I.  T.  Hoover. 

The  faculty  this  year  is  the  largest  and  strongest  in  the  history 
of  the  institution.  They  are  all  Christian  men  and  women  of 
high  culture,  a  number  of  them  being  college  and  university 
graduates. 


19 


29O  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

The  courses  of  study  in  all  departments  have  been  greatly 
strengthened.  Many  new  subjects  have  been  introduced,  and  the 
latest  and  best  text-books  adopted.  The  character  of  the  students 
and  grade  of  work  being  done  this  year  is  far  in  advance  of  what 
it  has  ever  been  in  the  history  of  the  college. 

The  college  is  now  operated  on  a  truly  educational  basis.  It 
has  no  debt,  besides  already  a  substantial  beginning  by  way  of 
an  endowment.  The  present  board  of  trustees  have  in  con- 
templation the  complete  reorganization  of  the  institution  and 
its  enlargement  along  strictly  college  lines. 

The  circumstances  attending  the  founding  and  maintaining  an 
institution  of  higher  education  are  quite  different  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  from  what  they  are  in  the  central  and  eastern  states,  and 
doubly  so  among  the  German  Baptists  or  Tunkers,  due  to  various 
causes,  in  no  way  reflecting  upon  the  church  in  the  west.  How- 
ever, it  is  confidently  predicted  that  within  a  few  years  Lordsburg 
College  will  be  equal  to  any,  and  superior  to  most  of  the  Brethren's 
colleges. 

NORTH   MANCHESTER  COLLEGE,  INDIANA. 

This  institution  is  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  German 
Baptist  Conference.  The  committee  of  examiners  reported  to 
the  annual  meeting  of  1899  that  the  teachers  and  students  mani- 
fest great  earnestness  in  pursuit  of  the  work  laid  out  for  them, 
and  that  the  work  of  the  year  has  been  of  a  commendable  char- 
acter ;  that  the  teachers  who  are  members  of  the  church  are  well 
conformed  to  the  usages  of  the  church  in  dress,  and  that  there 
seems  to  be  a  growing  tendency  among  the  students  who  are  mem- 
bers to  comply  with  the  usages  of  the  church  in  their  costume. 

Financially,  we  are  told  that  the  management  has  invested  over 
$40,000  in  the  college  grounds,  buildings,  and  equipments.  The 
enrollment  of  students  is  reported  to  be  309. 

The  institution  was  founded  in  the  spring  of  1895.  It  was 
formerly  occupied  by  the  United  Brethren  Church,  but  as  they 
were  not  strong  enough  numerically  to  furnish  the  required  num- 
ber of  students,  they  sold  the  property  to  the  German  Baptist 


DE  N  O  M I X  A  T I O  X  A  L. 


29I 


brethren,  who  have  successfully  conducted  the  school  since  in 
their  possession.  Prof.  H.  P.  Albaugh  is  the  president,  and 
M.  W.  Sherrick  vice-president.  Several  new  buildings  have  been 
erected,  and  ample  accommodations  are  provided  for  several  hun- 
dred additional  students.  Male  and  female  students  are  admitted 
to  this  school. 


FIRST     FACULTY    OF    THE    JUXIATA    COLLEGE 


HUNTIXGDON   NORMAL  COLLEGE,  PENNSYLVANIA. 

This  institution  is  located  at  Huntingdon,  Pennsylvania,  198 
miles  west  of  Philadelphia  and  153  miles  east  of  Pittsburg. 

It  was  started  April  17,  1876,  by  Prof.  J.  M.  Zook,  in  a  small 
room  in  the  Primitive  Christian  Building.  The  first  day  there 
were  only  three  students.  At  the  close  of  the  day  Brother  Zook 
remarked,  "It  looks  very  small  indeed,  but  if  the  work  is  of  the 
Lord  it  will  grow,"  and  by  heroic  effort  it  did  grow.     For  years 


292  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

the  teachers  struggled  on  with  barely  enough  money  to  live  until 
the  first  decade  was  passed.  Building  after  building  was  erected, 
until  now  four  commodious  edifices  are  occupied,  a  liberal  col- 
legiate course  is  pursued,  able  instructors  are  employed,  and 
nearly  four  hundred  students  are  enrolled. 

The  college  buildings  stand  on  high  ground  overlooking  the 
town  and  the  adjacent  country,  and  are  admirably  adapted  to  the 
purposes  of  the  institution,  and  afford  a  pleasant  and  comfortable 
normal  home  for  teachers  and  students  of  both  sexes. 

On  the  main  floor  are  the  library,  reception  room,  two  recita- 
tion rooms,  and  the  chapel,  a  large  room  which  will  seat  from 
500  to  600  persons. 

From  the  top  of  the  building  there  is  a  grand  outlook  over  the 
town  and  surrounding  country.  The  view  is  one  that  will  delight 
the  eye  of  any  one  who  can  appreciate  the  beauties  of  natural 
scenery.  Many  beautiful  pictures  have  been  painted  on  the  can- 
vas of  Pennsylvania  by  the  Great  Artist,  but  our  picturesque  state 
contains  few  lovelier  scenes  than  that  which  greets  the  admiring 
gaze  of  the  students  from  the  "Brethren's  Normal." 

Its  charter  places  it  forever  under  the  control  of  members  of 
the  Church  of  the  Brethren,  for  the  special  benefit  of  the  children 
of  the  fraternity,  to  be  a  home,  church,  and  school  for  them,  where 
they  can  receive  an  education  free  from  the  contaminating  influ- 
ences of  fashionable  life.  It  is  designed  to  give  a  good,  thorough, 
practical  education  to  all  students,  without  regard  to  sect  or  creed. 
Instead  of  a  small  room  with  its  four  inmates,  the  commodious 
buildings  erected  for  its  use  have  been  crowded  with  earnest 
students  intent  upon  making  the  best  possible  use  of  their  time 
and  their  talents.  The  work  has  met  with  divine  favor,  and, 
therefore,  has  prospered. 

The  school  year  consists  of  forty-three  weeks,  opening  Septem- 
ber 5,  and  closing  June  29,  and  is  divided  into  three  sessions,  at 
the  opening  of  each  of  which  the  classes  will  be  organized,  thus 
affording  advantages  to  the  students  who  may  wish  to  enter  at  the 
opening  of  any  session,  while  those  who  continue  during  the  year 
can  do  so  without  the  interruption  and  loss  of  time  occasioned 
by  vacations. 


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294 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


The  examining  committee  made  the  following  remarks  in  its 
report  of  1900: — 

"The  teachers  are  all  members  of  the  church  but  two. 

"The  moral  and  religious  influence  is  certainly  very  strong, 
and  of  a  high  order.  The  prominence  given  to  Bible  study  is 
commendable,  and  deserves  mention. 

"There  is  a  strong  desire  on  the  part  of  the  management  to 
work  in  harmony  with  the  church. 

"While  there  is  not  that  rigid  adherence  to  form  in  dress  that 
some  of  our  people  desire,  yet  the  peculiarity  of  the  church  is 
plainly  seen." 


ELD.    WM.    C.    THURMAN. 


CHAPTER  XII 
GERMAN    BAPTISTS— 'BIOGRAPHICAL 

PROF.    H.    P.   ALBAUGH. 

H.  P.  Albaugh  was  born  in  Johnson  County,  Missouri,  October 
9,  1869.  In  1875  he  moved,  with  his  parents,  to  Darke  County, 
Ohio,  where  he  was  brought  up  and  educated.  For  six  years  he 
was  an  instructor  in  public  schools,  after  which  he  had  a  business 
career  of  four  years  in  Chicago,  Illinois.  He  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  North  Manchester  College  and  Bible  School  in  April,  1899. 
Brother  Albaugh  was  elected  to  the  office  of  deacon  by  the  church 
of  Chicago,  and  was  duly  installed  with  Brother  Bruce  Otto,  on 
Sunday,  December  9,  1900.     (Portrait  5,  group  1.) 

ELDER     G.     C.     BOWMAN. 

He  is  a  descendant  of  a  family  prominent  in  the  past  history  of 
the  brotherhood  in  Tennessee,  among  the  lineal  descendants  of 
which  were  a  number  who  were  talented  quite  above  the  ordinary 
mass  of  men. 

G.  C.  Bowman  was  born  in  the  year  1832,  on  Carroll  Creek, 
Washington  County,  Tennessee,  where  he  spent  the  early  years 
of  his  life  under  the  religious  influence  and  teaching  of  the 
brethren.  In  the  year  i860  he  married  Anne  Hylton,  daughter 
of  Elder  Austin  Hylton.  In  the  autumn  of  this  year  he  and  his 
wife  were  received  into  the  church.  Within  a  year  or  two  after 
his  baptism,  he  was  chosen  to  the  ministry. 

Brother  Bowman  engaged  at  once  in  the  work  to  which  he  had 
been  called.  His  first  efforts  in  public  were  much  like  those  of 
one  engaged  in  ordinary  conversation, — without  any  apparent 
effort  in  delivery,  and  entirely  without  that  zeal  and  enthusiasm 
that  characterized  his  preaching  in  later  years.  But  there  was 
something  in  his  public  talks  that  indicated  his  methods  of  study, 
and  gave  promise  and  evidence  of  growth  and  development. 

(295) 


296  history  of  the  tunkers. 

His  preaching  consisted  almost  entirely  of  scriptural  quotations, 
with  such  comments  as  he  could  give.  Fulness  and  accuracy  of 
quotation  were  quite  apparent  in  all  his  efforts. 

Three  prominent  traits  appear  conspicuous  in  his  character: 
First,  he  was  an  untiring  student  of  the  Scriptures ;  second,  he 
was  a  man  of  much  faith ;  third,  he  was  much  given  to  prayer. 
Had  he  in  his  earlier  years  been  trained  to  habits  of  analysis  and 
to  that  close  application  of  scriptural  truth  that  is  always  effective 
in  religious  discourse,  he  would  indeed  have  grown  into  a  man  of 
wonderful  power  in  the  pulpit. 

The  later  years  of  his  life  were  given  entirely  to  the  work  of 
preaching,  and  the  burden  of  his  thoughts  was  in  line  with  his 
work. 

When  his  last  sickness  came,  in  the  delirium  of  his  last  days, 
his  ebbing  energies  were  given  to  repeating  passages  of  Scripture, 
to  apparent  efforts  of  preaching,  and  to  prayer. 

ELDER    GEORGE    BRUMBAUGH. 

George  Brumbaugh,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Huntingdon  County, 
Pennsylvania,  January  9,  1795.  He  was  the  elder  in  the  Clover 
Creek  congregation  for  about  forty  years,  and  although  not  an 
eloquent  preacher,  he  was  a  very  successful  housekeeper  in  the 
church  of  Christ.  I  received  the  ordinance  of  baptism  at  his 
hands,  and  always  highly  esteemed  him  for  his  Christian  character. 
He  died  March  26,  1875,  aged  eighty  years,  two  months,  seventeen 
days. 

ELDER     GEORGE     W.     BRUMBAUGH. 

George  W.  Brumbaugh,  son  of  Deacon  John  Brumbaugh  and 
brother  to  Elder  J.  W.  Brumbaugh,  was  born  August  6,  1827. 
He  joined  the  German  Baptist  Church  about  1850,  and  was  elected 
to  the  ministry  in  1855,  advanced  to  the  second  degree  in  1862, 
and  ordained  to  the  eldership  in  1888. 

Brother  Brumbaugh  and  myself  were  intimate  acquaintances 
when  young  men.  George  was  a  blacksmith,  and  I  used  to  strike 
for  him  at  the  anvil,  and  many  a  sermon  was  forged  out  while 


GROUP     NO.  i 


298  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

the  horseshoe  was  being  turned.  Not  a  gospel  sermon,  however, 
but  an  argument  on  politics,  school  work,  or  agriculture.  Now 
we  are  both  ministers,  and  our  heads  are  blossoming  for  the 
grave.  He  still  resides  within  ten  rods  of  the  spot  where  the 
blacksmith  shop  stood,  while  I  have  drifted  westward  until  reach- 
ing the  western  coast. 
(Portrait  90,  group  9.) 

ELDER     JOHN     W.     BRUMBAUGH. 

John  Brumbaugh  was  born  April  7,  1823,  in  Blair  County,  Penn- 
sylvania. His  father  was  John  Brumbaugh,  and  his  mother  was 
Elizabeth  Wineland.  He  was  married  to  Margaret  Nicodemus, 
April  21,  1844.  He  was  elected  to  the  ministry  September  28, 
1849;  advanced  October  26,  1855 ;  and  ordained  August  26,  1867. 
He  died  March  18,  1894,  aged  seventy  years,  eleven  months,  and 
eleven  days. 

(Portrait  yy,  group  7.) 

ELDER    H.    B.     BRUMBAUGH. 

Henry  Boyer  Brumbaugh,  son  of  John  and  Catherine  B. 1m- 
baugh,  of  Huntingdon  County,  Pennsylvania,  was  born  April 
1,  1836.  He  spent  his  boyhood  days  on  the  farm,  and  received 
his  early  education  at  home  and  in  the  public  schools,  at  the 
Williamsburg  Academy  and  Cassville  Seminary.  He  also 
taught  public  schools  for  nine  years. 

He  was  baptized  June  15,  1856.  Married  Susan  F.  Peightal, 
November,  i860.  They  have  one  son,  Isaac  Harvey,  who  is  a 
graduate  of  Juniata,  Haverford,  and  Harvard  Colleges,  and  is  act- 
ing president  of  Juniata  College. 

The  first  seven  years  of  Henry's  married  life  were  spent  on  the 
farm,  an  experience  to  which  he  looks  back  with  feelings  of  much 
satisfaction,  assured  that  in  this  calling  he  was  successful.  Dur- 
ing this  period  he  was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  preached  his  first 
sermon  August  14,  1864,  from  John  11 :  25. 

In  1870  he  and  his  brother  John  commenced  publishing  the 
Weekly  Pilgrim,  at  James  Creek,  Pennsylvania. 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  299 

The  office  was  removed  to  Huntingdon  in  1875,  and  the  Pilgrim 
consolidated  with  the  Christian  Family  Companion  and  Gospel 
Visitor,  out  of  which  The  Primitive  Christian  was  formed.  He 
has  been  on  the  editorial  staff  for  thirty  years. 

In  1876  he  became  one  of  the  charter  members  in  organizing 
the  Brethren's  Normal  College  at  Huntingdon,  now  Juniata  Col- 
lege. To  this  institution  much  of  his  life  and  means  have  been 
devoted.  He  has  been  president  of  its  board  of  trustees  from  the 
beginning,  and  is  now  dean  of  the  Bible  department.  After  his 
removal  to  Huntingdon,  and  his  connection  with  the  college,  he 
availed  himself  of  the  literary  opportunities  of  the  institution,  in 
New  Testament  Greek,  etc. 

In  1895  he  made  a  tour  of  six  months  to  foreign  lands,  visiting 
England,  France,  Ireland,  Belgium,  Germany,  Denmark,  Sweden, 
and  eastern  Germany.  He  made  a  special  visit  to  Schwarzenau, 
the  original  home  of  the  Tunkers ;  Switzerland,  the  country  of 
beautiful  lakes  ;  Turkey,  visiting  Smyrna  and  Ephesus  ;  Damascus, 
the  Moslem  paradise.  He  enjoyed  his  overland  trips  in  the  Holy 
Land,  traveling  on  horseback,  living  in  tents,  visiting  Jerusalem, 
the  city  of  the  great  King  and  the  Jewish  Zion  ;  climbing  Egyptian 
pyramids,  and  other  interesting  experiences  of  eastern  travelers. 

In  1889  he  was  ordained  to  the  eldership,  and  since  then  has 
been  in  charge  of  the  Huntingdon  church.     He  is  in  full  vigor  of 
life,  is  a  close  student,  keeping  abreast  of  the  times,  and  is  in  the 
midsummer  of  his  usefulness. 
(Portrait  48,  group  4.) 

ELDER     ADAM     BEAVER. 

This  worthy  brother  was  born  June  10,  18 16,  in  Union  County, 
Pennsylvania,  and  died  near  the  same  place,  January  7,  1898,  at 
the  age  of  eigty-two  years,  six  months,  and  twenty-seven  days. 
He  was  a  son  of  John  and  Anna  Beaver,  and  was  the  next  oldest 
of  a  family  of  thirteen  children.  He  had  first  belonged  to  the 
Methodist  Church,  but  some  forty  years  before  his  death  he  joined 
the  Tunkers,  and  was  soon  called  to  the  ministry,  and  rapidly 
advanced  through  the  various  degrees  to  the  highest  position  in 


300  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

the  church.     He  served  his  people  faithfully  for  many  years,  and 
traveled  much,  all  at  his  own  expense. 

PETER    BECKER. 

Peter  Becker,  the  first  minister  of  the  brethren  in  America, 
was  born  at  Dillsheim,  in  Germany,  in  the  year  1687.  He  was 
brought  up  and  educated  in  the  Presbyterian  faith,  but  embraced 
the  principles  of  the  Brethren  at  Krefeld,  in  17 14.  He  emigrated 
to  America,  at  the  head  of  the  first  company  of  the  Brethren  that 
crossed  the  ocean.  This  was  in  a.  d.  17 19.  He  settled  near  Ger- 
mantown,  Pennsylvania,  on  his  little  farm  of  twenty-four  acres. 
This  he  tilled  with  his  own  hands,  and  followed  his  occuption 
(weaving)  besides,  until  October  14,  1746,  when  lonesomeness 
and  the  infirmities  of  age  prevailed  on  him  to  retire.  He  made 
vendue,  sold  both  his  real  and  personal  property,  and  moved  to 
his  son-in-law,  Rudolph  Harley,  at  Indian  Creek,  Pennsylvania. 
There  he  lived  until  the  day  of  his  death,  March  19,  1758.  He  is 
buried  in  the  family  cemetery,  about  one  and  one-half  miles  from 
Indian  Creek.  He  was  married  to  Dorothy  Partman,  a  very  pious 
and  worthy  woman.  They  had  two  daughters,  Mary  and  Eliza- 
beth. The  former  married  the  above-named  Rudolph  Harley, 
and  the  latter  Peter  Stump,  and  they  raised  fifteen  children. 

Brother  Becker  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  ardent  feeling 
and  considerable  talent,  accompanied  with  great  zeal  in  the  Mas- 
ter's service,  and  he  was  the  happy  instrument  in  organizing  most 
of  the  early  churches  of  the  brethren  in  America.  He  traveled 
and  labored  more  extensively  in  the  cause  of  the  church  than  all 
his  contemporaries.  His  successor,  who  was  also  his  colleague, 
was  Alexander  Mack,  Sr. 

ELDER     ALLEN     B0YER. 

Allen  Boyer  was  born  March  29,  18 19,  in  eastern  Pennsylvania. 
His  father,  John  Reinhart  Boyer,  was  born  March  19,  1797,  and 
died  June  26,  1879.  His  mother's  name  was  Anna  Maria  Schan- 
bach.  His  grandfather,  Andon  Boyer,  was  born  1766.  His 
grandmother  was  named  Sally  Reinhart. 


302  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Allen  was  first  sent  to  German  school  to  a  teacher  by  the  name 
of  Carl  Gro.  His  father  was  a  Lutheran,  his  mother  a  German 
Reformed,  and  his  uncle,  S.  R.  Boyer,  was  a  Lutheran  minister. 
And  it  was  intended  that  Allen  should  be  a  preacher  of  the  same 
denomination.  His  parents  being  in  limited  circumstances,  Allen 
was  hired  out  to  help  support  the  family.  In  1835  ^e  was  hired 
to  Elder  Isaac  Meyers,  of  the  Buffalo  Valley  church,  Pennsyl- 
vania, at  six  dollars  a  month.  He  had  read  the  Scriptures  pretty 
well,  as  he  thought,  and  felt  fully  confirmed  in  the  Lutheran  faith, 
and  felt  able  to  meet  the  old  Tunker  preacher ;  but  when  Brother 
Meyers  met  him  in  his  fatherly,  unassuming,  affectionate  manner, 
he  readily  convinced  his  young  friend  of  his  errors,  and  he  readily 
accepted  the  new  truths  he  had  learned.  In  the  spring  of  1836, 
he  made  application  to  Brother  Meyers  to  be  baptized.  The 
elder,  however,  advised  him  first  to  consult  his  parents,  which 
he  did,  and  who,  unexpectedly,  cheerfully  gave  their  consent. 
Accordingly,  he  and  Sister  Susie  Miller  were  immersed  by  Elder 
John  Royer,  his  mother  taking  affectionate  care  of  him. 

On  the  1 6th  of  February,  1840,  he  was  married  to  Leah  Jorden. 

In  the  fall  of  1841  he  and  John  Bogenreif  were  elected  deacons, 
Elder  John  Klein,  the  martyr,  giving  the  charge. 

In  1846  he  moved  to  Stephenson  County,  Illinois.  When  he 
came  to  that  place  he  found  a  band  of  thirteen  members.  John 
Lawver  was  their  minister,  and  Allen  was  the  deacon.  They  held 
their  meetings  at  private  houses.  In  the  fall  of  1848  the  Yellow 
Creek  and  Waddams  Grove  churches  were  organized.  And  at 
this  time,  of  the  thirteen  original  members,  only  Elder  Allen 
Boyer  and  his  wife  are  yet  living,  having  attained  the  age  of 
eighty-one  years. 

In  the  spring  of  1862,  Brother  Boyer  was  elected  to  the  minis- 
try. He  has  been  a  member  of  the  church  sixty-four  years,  a 
deacon  twenty-one  years,  and  in  the  ministry  thirty-eight  years. 

ELDER    ADAM    BROWN. 

Elder  Adam  Brown,  a  very  able  German  and  English  minister, 
was  born  in  Adams  County,  Pennsylvania,  about  the  year  181 1. 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL. 


303 


His  parents  were  members  of  the  Tunker  Church.  He  associated 
himself  with  the  Seventh-day  German  Baptist  Church  when  quite 
young.  During  his  boyhood  he  lived  in  Waynesboro,  Pennsyl- 
vania, assisting  his  brother-in-law,  John  Deardorfr",  in  the  drug 
business.  The  seventh-day  nunnery  being  only  three  miles  north 
of  Waynesboro,  he  would  frequently  attend  church  there.  Soon 
after  this,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  became  a  member,  but  not 


being  satisfied  with  their  discipline,  he  withdrew  from  that  per- 
suasion after  being  a  member  a  short  time.  When  he  became  of 
age,  he  traveled  westward,  and  visited  Indian  camps,  and  became 
a  missionary  among  them,  preaching  for  them  wherever  it  was 
practicable.  After  being  with  the  copper-colored  race  for  some 
time,  he  returned  to  the  home  of  his  childhood,  Abbottst'own, 
Adams  County,  Pennsylvania.  Here  he  joined  the  Tunkers, 
being  admitted  on  his  former  baptism,  the  Seventh-day  Baptists 
also  baptizing  by  trine  immersion.     He  became  a  zealous  minister 


304  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

in  that  church,  and  when  in  middle  age,  he  was  ordained  a  bishop, 
in  what  year  is  unknown.  He  was  in  every  sense  a  self-made 
man,  an  able  school-teacher,  as  well  as  an  able  minister.  What 
he  knew  he  acquired  by  diligent  study,  not  having  an  opportunity 
of  attending  even  a  good  common  school.  In  his  day  he  traveled 
much  through  this  and  adjoining  states,  as  well  as  his  western 
trip  in  his  younger  years.  He  was  not  a  wealthy  man,  but  would 
often  go  on  extended  ministerial  tours  with  but  little  money  in 
his  pockets.  He  was  no  begger  for  money,  but  every  person  loved 
him.  His  mild  and  gentle  manners  endeared  him  to  everybody. 
He  was  a  fluent  speaker  in  English  and  German.  He  never  wrote 
for  any  periodical,  but  wrote  intelligent  letters,  and  could  have 
written  for  the  press,  also.  He  died  in  the  year  1895,  ag"ed  about 
eighty-four  years.  D.  h.  f. 

ELDER     ELIAS     CAYLOR. 

The  father  of  Elias  Cay  lor  (John  Cay  lor)  came  to  America 
from  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  Germany,  when  but  sixteen  or 
seventeen  years  of  age.  He,  with  two  sisters,  landed  in  Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania,  in  1763.  For  his  passage  across  the  ocean 
he  was  sold  for  three  years  to  a  man  by  the  name  of  Lichtv,  a 
farmer  living  in  the  vicinity. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  indenture  he  married  Magdalena  Barn- 
hart,  and  moved  to  Botetourt  County,  Virginia.  To  this  union 
nine  children  were  born, — five  sons  and  four  daughters.  After 
this,  death  entered  his  home,  taking  away  the  companion  of  his 
youth.  A  few  years  later  he  married  Salome  Kinsey,  whose 
mother  had  been  stolen  by  the  hostile  Indians,  prior  to  the  War 
of  the  Revolution,  and  had  lived  in  captivity  seven  years,  but  had 
been  restored  to  her  friends  by  a  treaty  of  peace,  and  married 
Kinsey,  whose  daughter  Salome  now  became  the  second  wife  of 
John  Caylor. 

To  avail  himself  of  the  facilities  for  securing  a  home,  which  the 
new  country  afforded,  John  Caylor  and  family  emigrated  from 
Virginia  to  the  Miami  Valley,  Ohio,  about  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  where  Elias  Caylor  was  born  May  22,  1805,  said 
to  have  been  the  first  while  child  born  west  of  the  Miami  River. 


306  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

The  country,  at  that  time  almost  an  unbroken  forest,  afforded  but 
limited  school  privileges.  He  attended  the  district  school  only 
two  weeks,  but,  by  industry  and  perseverance,  he  learned  to  read 
fairly  well,  and  acquired  the  art  of  writing  .  sufficiently  for  the 
transaction  of  the  ordinary  business  of  the  times. 

In  December,  1825,  he  married  Sarah  Umberger.  Ten  children 
were  born  to  them.  They  joined  the  Tunker  church  in  Novem- 
ber, 1827.  About  the  year  1837  tnev  moved  to  the  Nettle  Creek 
Church,  Henry  County,  Indiana. 

In  1842  he  moved  into  the  Upper  Fall  Creek  Church,  same 
county.  Here  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  deacon,  May  16, 
1843,  and  on  March  30,  1844,  he  was  elected  to  the  ministry.  He 
preached  much  in  the  above-named  church,  including  Lower  Fall 
Creek,  and  Hamilton  County,  Indiana.  In  1849  ne  moved  to 
Hamilton  County,  Indiana,  to  a  few  scattered  members,  which 
was  the  nucleus  of  the  Stony  Creek  church.  He  was  the  only 
minister  until  they  organized.  In  1857  he  was  ordained  to  the 
full  ministry,  and  was  the  leading  spirit  building  up  the  Cicero 
Creek  church,  Beech  Grove  church,  Hancock  County  church,  and 
often  preached  in  Montgomery  County,  Indiana,  where  he  baptized 
Brother  R.  H.  Miller. 

He  traveled  much  on  horseback,  as  it  was  the  best  mode  of 
traveling  in  their  pioneer  life.  He  was  at  all  times  an  uncom- 
promising advocate  of  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  brethren. 
One  of  his  strong  characteristics  was  his  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  the  Master. 

MILLS    CALVERT. 

Francis  Calvert,  of  Bedford  County,  Virginia,  married  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  Church,  a  Miss  De  Witt,  about  1792.  Their 
sons  were  Robert,  Mills,  and  John. 

Robert  Calvert  was  born  in  Bedford  County,  Virginia,  Septem- 
ber 9,  1794.  He  was  married  February  2yy  1 816,  to  Sarah  Stretch, 
who  was  born  August  15,  1793,  and  who  was,  at  marriage,  a 
member  of  the  Brethren  Church. 

In  the  spring  of  1817  they  left  Bedford  County,  having  then 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL. 


307 


one  child.  The  mother  and  child  on  horseback,  and  the  father 
on  foot,  they  came  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  to  the  Kanawha 
salt  works.  At  this  place  they  stayed  one  season,  he  working  at 
the  cooper  trade.     In  the  fall  of  1817  they  came  to  Manchester, 


ELDER    JOHN    FOX. 

Was  born  1786  and  died  1880.    He  was  pastor  of  the  Philadelphia 

church  for  a  number  of  years. 

Ohio,  thence  to  a  farm  near  New  Lexington,  Highland  County. 
Here  they  settled,  and  on  November  8,  1818,  Mills  Calvert,  the 
subject  of  this  notice,  was  born.  To  them  were  born  eleven  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  died  under  two  years  of    age.      The  others' 


308  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

names  were,  John,  Mills,  Ira,  Francis,  William,  Moses,  Joel,  Jesse, 
and  Susanna. 

The  father  first  united  with  the  Methodists,  but  in  a  short  time 
joined  with  the  Tunkers,  was  baptized  in  1821  or  1822,  and,  in  a 
short  time,  was  put  to  tiie  ministry.  He  was  advanced  to  the 
eldership,  in  which  position  he  remained  till  his  death.  They 
moved  into  the  Brush  Creek  church,  Adams  County,  in  the  spring 
of  1839,  and  it  was  in  this  county,  and  in  Highland  and  Ross 
Counties,  that  he  principally  labored.  It  was  said  of  him,  "If  ever 
there  were  any  good  people  in  the  world,  Robert  Calvert  was  one 
of  them."  He  died  December  19,  1851,  aged  fifty-seven  years, 
three  months,  and  ten  days.  His  funeral  sermon  was  preached  in 
the  summer  of  1852,  by  Sister  Sarah  Major.  The  mother  died 
August  2,  1870.  Of  the  children,  six  sons  and  the  daughter 
joined  the  Tunkers,  four  of  whom  were  elected  to  the  ministry, 
and  two  to  the  office  of  deacon. 

Mills  Calvert  was  a  man  of  extensive  information.  His  gift 
of  language  was  good,  and  his  power  to  retain  what  he  read  and 
heard  was  remarkable.  The  texts  of  Scripture  so  often  used  by 
him,  both  in  preaching  and  in  conversation,  he  had  learned  from 
his  father's  preaching.  He  once  remarked,  "If  I  could  live  my 
life  over  again,  there  is  one  change  I  would  make.  I  was  once 
offered  a  good  chance  to  attend  school,  when  a  young  man,  and 
did  not  take  it;  I  ought  to  have  taken  it."  He  was  married  to 
Susanna  Garman,  October  8,  1843,  was  baptized  in  1849,  an^  on 
the  17th  day  of  August,  1850,  he  was  called  to  the  ministry.  His 
labors  were  mainly  in  Adams,  Highland,  and  Ross  Counties,  with 
an  occasional  visit  to  other  places.  He  baptized  about  two  hun- 
dred, married  two  hundred  and  four  couples,  and  preached  the 
funerals  of  more  than  two  hundred  persons,  besides  attending  the 
burials  of  a  great  many  more. 

Although  never  ordained,  he  filled  the  specifications  laid  down 
by  the  apostle,  and  especially  that  of  having  "a  good  report  of 
them  which  are  without."  As  a  preacher  on  general  topics,  he 
was  considered  able,  and  on  such  subjects  as  the  power  of  God 
to  save,  the  saving  qualities  of  religion,  the  resurrection,  and  the 
doctrine  held  by  the  brethren,  he  had  few  equals. 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  309 

They  had  three  sons,  all  becoming-  prominent  members  of  the 
church:  one  the  treasurer,  one  the  clerk,  and  one  a  minister  in 
the  church. 

In  the  fall  of  1875  his  health  began  to  fail,  and  by  January  he 


thought  his  case  hopeless.  He  was  visited  by  many  persons, 
especially  by  the  old  and  religious  people,  and  he  enjoyed  their 
presence  and  conversation  fully  as  well  as  one  could  in  his  con- 
dition. To  Brother  Garman  he  said,  "I  am  like  the  psalmist ;  I 
behold   the  Lord  always  before    my  face."     He    lingered    on  till 


3IO  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Tuesday  night,  June  12,  when,  with  his  mind  perfectly  clear,  and 
his  faith  firmly  fixed  on  the  Son  of  God,  he  quietly  passed  away. 
He  had  selected  the  hymns  to  be  sung  at  his  funeral.  The  funeral 
sermon  was  delivered  by  Brother  A.  J.  Hixon,  July  15,  1876,  in 
the  Pleasant  Grove  church,  from  Job  14 :  10.  It  seemed  to  be 
most  suitable,  as  it  was  the  greatest  subject  of  his  life. 

ABRAHAM     H.     CASSEL. 

Abraham  H.  Cassel  was  born  September  21,  182 1.  His  father's 
name  was  Yelles  Cassel.  Through  the  line  of  his  mother  he  was 
great-grandson  of  Christopher  Saur. 

One  of  his  biographers  said  of  him,  "He  is  universally  recog- 
nized as  a  historian  of  his  church,"  which  is  that  of  the  German 
Baptists  or  Tunkers.  For  half  a  century  he  has  been  a  wise 
counselor  of  his  church,  and  his  decisions  on  important  questions 
are  accepted  as  final.  He  is  the  personification  of  benevolence, 
and  has  a  gentleness  of  manner  and  kindliness  of  heart,  which  win 
for  him  recognition  among  all  classes  of  people,  who  find  in  him 
a  worthy  friend  and  charming  companion.  Crowning  all  his 
noble  qualities  is  the  spirit  of  humility  in  all  his  daily  acts.  He 
has  a  certain  simple  eloquence  of  speech  which  is  made  impressive 
with  his  earnestness,  and  to  which  is  lent  a  united  charm  by  a 
slight  German  accent.  He  dresses  in  the  plain  habit  of  his 
brethren,  and  possesses  a  clean-cut  face,  which  is  lighted  with 
intelligence,  and  his  manner  kindles  with  enthusiasm  when  he  dis- 
courses on  his  favorite  themes.  It  is  one  of  the  best  evidences  of 
the  complete  development  of  Mr.  Cassel's  mind  and  character  that 
he  is  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  his  prosaic  neighbors,  who 
care  little  for  books,  but  everything  for  the  crops,  and  for  thrift 
and  economy.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  he  has  thrived 
by  holding  the  plow  himself,  and  has  accumulated  a  competency, 
but  the  universal  respect  in  which  he  is  held  by  a  large  circle  of 
acquaintances  in  all  classes  of  society,  is  mainly  due  to  his  sincere 
and  noble  character.  The  atmosphere  of  piety  pervading  his 
home,  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  his  manners,  the  endurance  of 
his  friendship,  and  the  story  of  his  remarkable  career  have  kindled 


312  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

a  love  for  him  which  is  not  bounded  by  the  county  or  the  state, 
but  which  even  extends  to  foreign  lands. 

Brother  Cassel's  library,  in  its  entirety,  contained  over  fifty 
thousand  volumes.  This  includes  bound  books,  pamphlets,  and 
documents,  besides  over  one  thousand  specimens  comprising  com- 
plete sets  of  the  principal  American  almanacs  from  1714  to  the 
present  day ;  also  many  ancient  magazines  and  early  periodicals 
of  Pennsylvania  and  American  newspapers  of  the  earliest  days. 
Brother  Cassel  also  preserved  all  his  correspondence,  which  was 
very  extensive,  and  has  all  letters  sent  to  him  on  whatever  subject 
filed  away  and  indexed,  so  he  can  refer  to  any  personal  corre- 
spondence at  a  glance ;  also  has  many  autograph  letters  of 
Christopher  Saur,  Alexander  Mack,  Peter  Becker,  Conrad  Beisel, 
Martin  Urner,  and  others  of  the  fathers  of  the  Brethren  Church. 

( Portrait  47,  group  4. ) 

PROF.     AARON     L.     CLAIR. 

Prof.  Aaron  L.  Clair  was  born  at  Nora,  Illinois,  July  25,  1866, 
and  is  the  son  of  Preston  and  Mary  Clair.  His  early  life  was 
spent  on  his  father's  farm  near  Lena.  In  the  fall  of  1888  he 
entered  Mount  Morris  College.  By  June,  1890,  besides  the  liter- 
ary work  done,  he  had  completed  the  shorter  commercial  and  pen 
art  courses.  Within  a  year  he  was  called  to  the  position  of  prin- 
cipal instructor  in  penmanship,  and  assistant  in  the  business 
department  of  Maryville  Seminary,  Missouri.  The  year  follow- 
ing he  was  promoted  to  the  principalship  of  the  business  depart- 
ment of  the  seminary. 

In  the  fall  of  1892  he  again  entered  Mount  Morris  College. 
During  1893-94  he  served  as  an  assistant  in  the  business  college, 
and  in  September,  1894,  he  was  promoted  to  the  principalship, 
which  he  still  fills.  Professor  Clair  is  an  instructor  whom  every 
one  likes  because  of  his  cheerful  nature  and  his  agreeable  manner 
of  conducting  recitations  and  the  work  in  the  commercial  depart- 
ment. With  rare  tact  and  skill  he  directs  the  work  in  the  com- 
mercial hall,  and  the  large  attendance  in  this  department  is  a 
testimonial  to  his  ability  as  an  instructor.     He  was  married  June 


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314  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

16,  1892,  to  Lizzie'   Albright.      In  July,  1900,  he  was   elected   to 
the  first  degree  of  the  ministry. 

ELDER     JESSE     CROSSWHITE. 

The  author's  acquaintance  with  Elder  Crosswhite  is  inseparably 
associated  with  that  of  Doctor  P.  R.  Wrightsman,  and  dates  to 
about  1865.  He  was  then  a  Tunker  preacher,  but  we  learned  that 
he  had  formerly  belonged  to  the  Campbellites.  We  have  been 
unable  to  learn  dates  of  birth,  baptism,  and  installation  to  office. 
He  was  a  zealous  advocate  of  the  cause,  able  and  influential  in  his 
ministerial  labors.  He  and  Brother  Wrightsman  were  colaborers, 
traversing  the  hills  and  valleys  of  east  Tennessee  and  North 
Carolina  on  horseback,  through  all  kinds  of  weather.  On  one 
occasion,  after  an  all  day's  journey  in  the  rain,  in  Johnson  County, 
Brother  Crosswhite's  horse  fell  in  the  middle  of  a  swollen  stream. 
He  swam  out  with  his  overcoat  and  broad-brim  hat  on.  His 
horse  also  escaped,  but  the  saddle-bags,  containing  their  clothing, 
went  down  the  river,  and  were  lost. 

On  another  occasion  these  same  brethren  were  holding  pro- 
tracted meetings  in  the  same  county.  Among  the  converts  was 
a  doctor's  wife.  She  wished  to  be  baptized,  but  the  husband 
swore  that  he  would  shoot  the  preacher  that  attempted  to  baptize 
his  wife.  The  ministers  held  a  council  over  the  matter.  Brother 
Wrightsman  favored  proceeding  with  the  work,  saying  he  did 
not  believe  that  the  Lord  would  let  the  man's  powder  burn.  But 
Brother  Crosswhite  favored  deferring  the  matter  until  the  doc- 
tor's wrath  would  abate,  and  his  advice  prevailed.  Near  the  close 
of  the  meeting  the  lady  was  baptized,  and  there  was  no  shooting 
done.  Some  time  after  the  doctor  himself  was  baptized  and  the 
family  made  happy. 

During  the  latter  years  of  Brother  Crosswhite's  life  he  felt 
convicted  that  the  Tunker  Church  was  placing  too  much  stress 
upon  the  subject  of  dress,  by  making  it  a  test  of  official  standing, 
and  in  some  cases  expelling  members  for  non-compliance  with  the 
form  of  dress  adopted  by  the  church.  He  claimed  that  the 
brethren  added  to  God's  Word. 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  315 

About  1890  he  was  so  much  agitated  upon  the  subject  that  he 
liad  about  concluded  to  withdraw  his  fellowship  from  the  church. 
He  wrote  a  long  letter  to  Brother  Wrightsman  for  the  unburden- 
ing of  his  mind  upon  the  subject  which  rested  so  heavily  upon  his 
heart.  Brother  Wrightsman,  like  a  true  brother,  his  heart  filled 
with  love  for  his  colaborer.  responded  at  equal  length ;  and,  hav- 
ing kept  a  copy  of  his  letter,  we  are  enabled  to  publish  an  extract 
therefrom : — 

"My  heart  yearns  for  your  welfare,  and  for  the  best  results  of 
your  severe  trials.  While  I,  also,  feel  that  our  church  has  made 
a  mistake  in  placing  so  much  stress  on  the  dress  question  and  so 
little  on  the  internal  spiritual  work,  with  holy  living,  yet  with  all 
this  weakness,  where,  my  brother,  could  we  improve  our  moral 
situation?  You  can  not  accept  open  communion,  single  immer- 
sion, or  omit  any  of  Christ's  commandments,  which  you  would  be 
required  to  do  if  you  were  to  unite  with  any  other  denomination. 
'Let  no  man  take  thy  crown.'  Stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation 
of  God.  O  my  brother  in  travail,  let  me  beseech  you,  think  of 
our  labors  together  in  the  Lord,  by  day  and  by  night,  in  war  and 
in  peace,  over  hills  and  mountains  and  through  floods !  The 
Lord  is  my  Shepherd,  I  shall  not  want.'  I  make  this  one  request ; 
please  study  it  well ;  take  it  to  the  Lord  in  prayer ;  stay  upon  His 
Word,  and  trust  Him.  Make  no  change  in  your  church  relation- 
ship for  six  months,  and  by  that  time  I  believe  the  Lord  will  direct 
His  children." 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  following  year  he  wrote  to  Brother 
Wrightsman  again,  stating  that  he  had  seriously  reflected  over  the 
situation  ;  although  he  did  not  believe  in  adding  to  God's  Word, 
he  felt  that  he  could  do  no  better  by  making  the  contemplated 
change.  He  cordially  thanked  Brother  Wrightsman  for  his 
advice  and  interest  in  his  welfare. 

Brother  Crosswhite  was  accidentally  killed,  the  particulars  of 
which  I  am  unable  to  learn. 

ELDER    JOHN     P.    EBERSOLE 

was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania,  November  22,  1805. 
His  parents    moved   to    Ohio  in  181 5,  remaining  in    Columbiana 


31 6  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

County  until  1835,  when  they  permanently  located  in  Hancock 
County. 

He  was  converted  and  received  into  the  Tunker  Church  in  the 
year  1844.  He  and  his  wife  were  baptized  by  Elder  Israel  Hanes. 
He  was  chosen  to  the  office  of  deacon  in  one  year  after  joining  the 
church,  and  elected  to  the  ministry  in  1846.  In  1852  he  was 
ordained  to  the  eldership  by  Elder  George  Hoke  and  Joseph 
Showalter,  and  he  became  a  leader  among  the  Brethren.  His 
ability  as  a  preacher  and  a  counselor  was  recognized,  not  only  in 
his  own  community,  but  throughout  the  entire  state.  He  pre- 
sided over  six  different  churches.  He  attended  forty  annual 
meetings,  and  was  always  in  demand  as  a  preacher  on  such  occa- 
sions, and  he  frequently  addressed  audiences  numbering  thou- 
sands. He  crossed  the  Alleghany  Mountains  twenty-two  times 
on  church  business. 

Elder  Ebersole  was  married  to  Susannah  Green,  October  12, 
1827,  and  was  the  father  of  seven  children.  He  died  August  3, 
1890,  aged  eighty-four  years,  eight  months,  eleven  days. 

Sister  Ebersole  was  born  October  8,  1805,  in  Newcastle 
County,  Delaware.  She  was  of  English  descent.  She  died  at 
the  house  of  her  son-in-law,  Jacob  C.  Hazen,  January  20,  1892, 
aged  eighty-six  years,  three  months,  and  twelve  days. 

ELDER    ENOCH     EBY. 

Enoch  Eby  was  born  near  Waterloo,  Juniata  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, November  15,  1828.  He  was  raised  on  a  farm,  in  a 
Catholic  community  in  the  north  corner  of  Franklin  County, 
Pennsylvania,  in  the  limits  of  the  Aughwick  church,  Huntingdon 
County.  All  the  members  of  his  family  united  with  the  German 
Baptist  Church  in  their  youth,  the  result  of  good  parental  training. 
Enoch  is  the  only  church  official,  however,  in  the  family.  x  He  was 
baptized  near  the  Aughwick  church  by  its  elder,  Andrew  Span- 
ogle,  in  May,  1845,  in  his  seventeenth  year,  and  was  elected  to  the 
ministry  in  the  same  congregation.  May,  185 1. 

He  was  married  to  Hetty  Howe,  of  Mechanicsburg,  Pennsyl- 
vania,  November    18,    1847.     They  took  charge   of  his   father's 


31 8  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

farm,  though  isolated  from  the  body  of  the  church.  The  appoint- 
ments for  preaching  were  from  fifteen  to  thirty  miles  distant, 
across  two  and  three  mountains,  which  meant  something  in  Penn- 
sylvania, especially  when  afoot  or  on  horseback. 

On  his  return  home  from  meeting,  crossing  the  mountains 
alone,  he  committed  to  memory  two  lengthy  chapters  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  frequently  on  his  way  to  and  from  meeting,  he 
would  unconsciously  catch  himself  preaching.  At  one  time  sev- 
eral persons  were  herding  cattle  in  a  field  close  by  the  road- 
side, unobserved  by  him.  Supposing  that  he  was  intoxicated, 
they  inquired  of  a  friend  living  with  them  whether  he  came  home 
sober  that  evening. 

His  enjoyment,  however,  was  greatly  marred  for  one  season 
by  sickness,  which  the  doctor  and  all  his  friends  said  would  prove 
fatal,  during  the  first  year  of  his  married  life.  However,  he 
called  for  the  elders  of  the  church,  and  was  anointed  according 
to  James  4,  and  recovered  in  a  remarkably  short  time. 

Educational  advantages  were  meager.  School  terms  meant 
only  three  to  four  months  in  a  year.  When  the  crops  were  good, 
half  the  time  was  spent  in  tramping  out  the  grain  and  hulling  the 
clover  seed.  But  by  using  late  and  early  hours,  he  succeeded  in 
obtaining  an  average  log-schoolhouse  education,  so  that  he  could 
teach  in  the  winter  and  farm  in  the  summer.  A  Lutheran  minis- 
ter, a  friend  of  his,  asked  a  question,  "When  do  you  study  your 
sermons?"  He  replied,  "While  after  my  plow  and  sometimes 
while  others  sleep."  The  Lord  has  preserved  him  for  seventy-one 
years,  with  more  than  ordinary  health. 

In  March,  1855,  they  moved  west  with  four  children,  and  located 
in  Stephenson  County,  Illinois,  where  sunshine  and  dark  clouds 
were  awaiting  them.  The  church  received  them  gladly,  and  for 
about  six  years  all  went  well  with  them.  The  church  prospered, 
and  at  almost  every  meeting  some  one  was  baptized.  But  dark 
clouds  were  approaching.  In  January  28,  1867,  death  entered  the 
family  and  claimed  the  mother  of  eight  children. 

In  1870  he  again  united  in  matrimony,  marrying  Anna  (Lauver) 
Gilfilen,  of  Perry  County,  Pennsylvania.     All  his  children  were 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  319 

baptized  into  Christ  in  their  youthful  days,  and  three  sons  were 
elected  to  the  ministry  in  single  life,  in  their  twenties,  and  in  the 
same  church  in  which  they  were  raised. 

In  May  of  1864  he  was  called  upon  by  the  adjoining  elders  and 
the  church  to  take  oversight  thereof,  and  was  ordained  to  the 
eldership,  in  which  office  he  served  thirty-two  years,  during  which 
time  bereavements  fell  heavy  on  his  family.  His  wife  died  Jan- 
uary, 1867;  December,  1869,  a  son  of  four  years;  July  6,  1871,  a 
daughter  of  sixteen  years ;  then  his  mother,  who  had  been  a  mem- 
ber of  his  family  since  his  father's  death,  in  October,  1872,  aged 
seventy-two  years  ;  December,  1876,  another  single  daughter,  aged 
twenty-three  years.  In  July,  1885,  a  married  daughter,  with  two 
children,  died  in  southern  California,  aged  twenty-eight  years. 

In  1875  tne  northern  district  of  Illinois  appointed  Brother  Fry 
and  wife,  with  Enoch  Eby  and  wife,  to  go  to  Denmark,  to  organize 
the  first  German  Baptist  Church  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean, 
which  was  accomplished  in  November,  1877.  They  returned  to 
eastern  Pennsylvania  the  latter  part  of  March,  and  to  Illinois  in 
May,  1878. 

Crossing  the  ocean  twenty-one  years  ago  meant  more  than  it 
does  now.  He  attended  thirty-nine  annual  meetings  ;  served  on 
standing  committee  about  twenty  times ;  twice  door-keeper ;  four 
times  reading  clerk ;  moderator  eleven  times ;  and  on  committees 
about  twenty-five  times.  His  home  at  present  is  at  Booth, 
Kansas. 

M.     M.     ESHELMAN. 

Matthew  Mays  Esheiman  was  born  near  Lewistown,  Pennsyl- 
vania, September  1,  1844.  His  ancestors  were  from  the  Canton 
of  Eshel,  in  Switzerland.  For  many  years  a  gentleman  from 
said  Canton  represented  it  in  the  Swiss  Parliament,  as  eventually 
he  was  known  as  "Der  Mon  von  Eshel" — ((Dcr  Esheiman"  hence 
the  origin  of  the  name. 

His  grandfather,  David,  was  born  near  Lancaster,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  died  an  elder  in  the  Tunker  Church,  near  Mohrsville, 
Pennsylvania.  His  father,  Andrew,  died  in  1872,  near  Lanark, 
Illinois,  and,  at  the  time,  was  a  deacon  in  that  church. 


320 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


In  August,  1862,  he  enlisted  for  the  war,  marching  from  Clarion 
County,  Pennsylvania,  to  Camp  Howe,  at  Pittsburg.  In  a  few 
days  the  regiment  was  transported  to  the  Potomac  in  time  to  par- 


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ELDER  M.  M.  ESHELMAN 

ticipate  in  the  second  Bull  Run  defeat.  From  here  they  were 
rapidly  marched  to  Antietam,  where  he  was  wounded  September 
17,  and  was  taken  to  Wolfe  Street  Hospital,  Alexandria,  where 
he  was  "honorably  discharged,"  December  29,  1862. 

He  then  joined  the  Ohio  National  Guards.     In  May,  1864,  they 
were  called  into  service  for  one  hundred  days.     On  arriving  at 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  321 

Fort  Ethan  Allen,  Virginia,  he  was  made  secretary  to  the  adjutant 
of  his  regiment.  During  Breckinridge's  attack  on  Washington, 
in  August,  his  regiment  participated,  and  his  company  was 
assigned  to  duty  at  Chainbridge.  Before  returning  home  his  reg- 
iment was  drawn  up  in  front  of  the  White  House  in  Washington, 
and  President  Lincoln  delivered  them  an  address. 

His  next  experience  consisted  of  the  more  peaceable  vocation 
of  teaching  in  the  common  schools  in  the  vicinity  of  Virden  and 
Lanark,  Illinois,  until  1876. 

He  was  married  to  Miss  Lizzie  A.  Best,  October  25,  1865.  In 
1871  he  joined  the  M.  E.  Church  in  Freeport,  Illinois,  and  the  next 
year  moved  to  Christian  County,  where  his  zeal  and  earnestness 
continued.  The  German  Baptists  held  services  "every  four  weeks" 
in  the  schoolhouse  where  he  taught,  and  he  attended  those  services, 
and  became  interested.  He  read  the  New  Testament  through,  and 
after  much  wrestling  in  prayer,  determined  to  obey  from  the  heart 
every  requirement.  When  through,  he  united  with  the  German 
Baptist  Church,  June  1 1,  1873. 

In  1875-76,  he  prepared  three  works,  "Our  Faith  Vindicated," 
"Sabbathism,"  and  "True  Vital  Piety,"  and  wrote  a  history  of  the 
Danish  mission. 

September  1,  1876,  J.  H.  Moore,  J.  T.  Myers,  and  M.  M.  Eshel- 
man  began  the  publication  of  the  Brethren  at  Work,  in  Lanark, 
Illinois,  J.  T.  Myers  having  brought  his  printing  outfit  from  Ger- 
mantown,  Pennsylvania,  to  Lanark.  By  January  I,  1877,  the 
paper  had  a  circulation  of  2,000. 

In  1877  a  Bible  school  was  opened  in  Lanark,  and  M.  M.  Eshel- 
man  conducted  it  successfully.  In  a  few  years  similar  schools 
were  in  operation  in  nearly  all  the  congregations  in  northern 
Illinois,  known  as  Sunday-schools. 

In  the  spring  of  1880  Elder  J.  H.  Moore  retired,  and  Eshelman 
became  sole  proprietor  of  the  paper. 

Some  time  after  the  retirement  of  Elder  Moore,  S.  J.  Harrison 
ana*  L.  M.  Eby  became  associated  with  the  journal,  and  after  a 
few  months  Eby  retired,  and    Eshelman  and    Harrison  assumed 


322  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

entire  control.  In  the  autumn  of  1880,  S.  J.  Harrison  sold  his 
interest  to  Eshelman. 

The  Mount  Morris  College  having  been  established  about  the 
year  1879,  in  December,  1880,  Eshelman  moved  the  paper  to  that 
place. 

January,  1882,  Elder  Joseph  Amick  purchased  a  half  interest  in 
the  Brethren  at  Work,  and  prepared  to  move  from  Indiana  to 
Mount  Morris,  Illinois,  to  take  charge  of  the  business  department. 
Brother  Eshelman,  to  recuperate  his  health,  spent  a  month  or  two 
in  Missouri.  In  February,  1882,  he  transferred  his  interest  to 
Joseph  Amick,  D.  L.  Miller,  and  others,  and  retired  from  the 
business  in  broken  health,  as  compensation  for  his  time  and  talent. 

He  next  took  up  pastoral  work  in  northwestern  Kansas,  where 
he  was  ordained  to  the  eldership  in  the  Whiterock  church  in  the 
spring  of  1885. 

He  served  as  a  member  of  the  standing  committee  for  the  years 
1885  and  1887  from  northwestern  Kansas  and  Colorado. 

He  next  took  part  in  the  establishment  of  McPherson  College, 
Kansas.  To  this  institution  he  rendered  valuable  service,  and 
was  involved  in  serious  trouble  for  his  reward,  and  for  a  time  lost 
his  eldership. 

He  was  next  engaged  in  an  effort  to  build  up  an  educational 
institution.  In  connection  with  T.  J.  Nair,  Henry  Frantz,  and 
D.  A.  Norcross,  rre  bought  a  large  hotel  property  at  Lordsburg, 
California,  which  was  converted  into  the  Lordsburg  College,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1890  Brother  Eshelman  moved  to  Lordsburg,  and 
the  college  became  an  established  institution. 

This  enterprise  afforded  Elder  Eshelman  plenty  of  work  and 
more  trouble,  financial  and  ecclesiastical.  It  would  require  a  vol- 
ume in  itself  to  recount  in  detail  all  his  sad  experiences,  and  lest 
I  should  do  him  injustice  by  enforced  brevity,  much  is  omitted  of 
which  our  data  is  full  and  complete. 

After  locating  in  California  he  was  connected  with  the  Santa 
Fe  Railroad  Company,  and  became  instrumental  in  colonizing  a 
large  number  of  families  from  the  east  to  southern  California.  He 
also   enlisted   the   influence   and   means  of   such  men  as    Daniel 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  323 

Houser  and  S.  A.  Overholser  at  Covina,  and  Henry  and  David 
Kims,  of  Cerro  Gordo,  Illinois,  in  favor  of  the  Lordsburg  Col- 
lege, thus  assuring  its  financial  success. 

April  24,  1892,  Brother  Eshelman  went  to  Waterloo,  Iowa,  and 
joined  the  Enon  Brethren  Church,  of  which  S.  J.  Harrison  was 
pastor,  H.  R.  Holsinger  officiating.  Shortly  after  this  occasion 
he  wrote  of  himself:  "Since  that  event  I  have  been  living  in  the 
ethereal  regions  of  spiritual  delights.  My  joy  is  running  over, 
my  cup  is  full,  and  the  ecstacy  of  spiritual  animations  scarcely 
knows  any  bounds." 

In  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  he  became  one  of  the  charter 
members  in  the  organization  of  a  Brethren  Church  at  Lordsburg, 
California,  which  was  afterwards  disbanded. 

Sometime  during  the  summer  of  1893  Brother  Eshelman 
assisted  in  the  organization  of  a  Brethren  Church  in  the  city  of 
Los  Angeles,  California,  and  the  same  day  he  baptized  three 
young  women  in  the  Disciple  Church  pool.  He  was  given  charge 
of  the  church,  and  for  a  while  it  prospered,  but  its  existence  was 
very  brief. 

On  the  5th  of  November,  1893,  Brother  Eshelman  assisted  in 
the  organization  of  the  Rosena  Brethren  Church,  and  located  his 
membership  in  that  congregation,  his  wife  at  the  same  time 
transferring  her  membership  from  the  German  Baptist  Church 
to  the  Rosena  Brethren  Church.  We  verily  thought  that  now 
Brother  Eshelman's  cup  of  joy  was  full.  Early  in  the  year  1895 
he  returned  to  the  German  Baptist's  communion,  and  was 
restored  to  the  eldership;  and  since  then  has  been  doing  very 
faithful  service  in  that  denomination.  Sister  Eshelman  reluc- 
tantly accompanied  her  husband  in  this  last  transfer. 

PROF.     W.     LEWIS     EIKENBERRY. 

Prof.  W.  Lewis  Eikenberry,  B.  S.,  is  the  son  of  William  and 
Susan  Eikenberry,  and  was  born  near  Waterloo,  Iowa,  July  12, 
1 87 1.  After  leaving  the  country  school,  he  attended  a  short  time 
at  a  private  school  in  Waterloo,  and  finally  came  to  Mount  Morris 
College  in  the  fall  of  1887,  and  after  two  years  of  solid  work, 


324  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

graduated  in  the  academic  class  of  1889.  In  1890  he  again 
entered  the  college  and  did  two  years  of  seminary  work,  graduat- 
ing from  that  department  in  1892. 

In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  enrolled  at  the  University  of 
Michigan,  Ann  Arbor,  and  graduated  after  two  years,  receiving 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science.  He  was  immediately  engaged 
as  professor  of  science  by  his  alma  mater. 

He  is  one  of  the  exceedingly  small  number  of  men  who  have 
had  the  presence  of  mind  and  the  opportunity  to  photograph  a 
moving  tornado,  which  feat  he  accomplished  in  1898.  Copies  of 
the  picture  have  appeared  in  quite  a  number  of  papers  and  mag- 
azines all  over  the  United  States,  and,  along  with  a  number  of 
other  photographs  of  the  effects  of  the  tornado,  will  be  found  in 
a  later  chapter  upon  calamities. 

In  1893  ne  was  elected  to  the  first  degree  of  the  ministry,  and 
was  later  advanced  to  the  second  degree. 

ELDER    JACOB     FAHRNEY. 

Elder  Fahrney  was  an  eminent  physician  in  his  day,  and  prac- 
ticed his  profession  in  Franklin  and  Cumberland  Counties,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Washington  County,  Maryland,  for  a  period  rang- 
ing between  1821  and  1848.  He  was  also  a  prominent  minister 
of  the  gospel,  speaking  both  the  German  and  English  languages, 
and  was  for  several  years  the  elder  of  the  old  Antietam  church. 
He  was  twice  married,  his  first  wife  having  been  a  Miss  Welty, 
with  whom  he  had  several  children,  one  of  whom,  now  deceased, 
practiced  the  healing  art  in  Philadelphia.  His  second  wife  was 
Elizabeth  Holsinger,  daughter  of  Elder  Jacob  Holsinger,  for 
many  years  the  bishop  of  the  Antietam  congregation.  With  this 
second  marriage  he  had  six  sons  and  four  daughters. 

An  indication  of  the  progressiveness  of  Elder  Fahrney  was  the 
radical  position  he  assumed  upon  the  temperance  question.  In 
his  day  it  was  common,  even  among  church  members,  to  take 
whisky  into  the  harvest  fields,  and  to  give  it  freely  to  all  working 
hands.  Elder  Fahrney,  noticing  the  injurious  results  of  this  cus- 
tom, not  only  advocated  its  abolition,  but  took  an  active  part  in 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL. 


325 


inaugurating  systematic  opposition  to  it.  In  those  days  such 
reformatory  measures  were  not  popular  in  the  Tunker  Church, 
and  those  who  advocated  them  could  all  be  numbered  on  the 
fingers  of  one  hand.  In  this  work  Brother  Fahrney  and  Elder 
Isaac  Price  were  contemporary,  and  we  feel  assured  they  are  now 
both  reaping  a  glorious  reward  for  their  labors ;  for  the  Master 
has  said,  "The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  reward." 

The  portrait  of  Doctor  Fahrney  has  been  copied  from  a 
daguerreotype  taken  early  in  1848.  At  that  time  having  one's 
likeness    taken    was    regarded    as    very    progressive,  and    Elder 


Fahrney  was  severely  censured  by  some  of  his  brethren  for  this 
act,  and  it  was  said  at  the  time,  that  the  severe  criticisms,  with 
the  implied  threats  of  ecclesiastical  investigation,  were  the  cause 
of  his  premature  death. 
(Portrait  56,  group  5.) 

ELDER    J.    S.    FLORY. 

J.  S.  Flory  was  born  in  Rockingham  County,  Va.,  Maich  28, 
1836.  He  was  grandson  of  John  Flory,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
church  in  Virginia,  and  a  representative  minister  through  Virginia, 
Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Indiana.  At  the  age  of 
twentv-one  lie  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Sanger,  daughter  of  Jacob 


326  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Sanger.  He  joined  the  church  at  twenty-three,  and  was  ordained 
as  an  elder  at  thirty-two.  He  built  up  the  church  in  Fayette 
County,  western  Virginia,  and  after  the  war,  in  1872,  he  went  to 
Colorado.  There  were  only  three  members  in  the  territory  at 
that  time,  but  he  built  up  a  church  of  about  one.  hundred  mem- 
bers. After  eleven  years,  he  went  to  southern  California,  at 
which  time  there  were  only  three  members  there.  He  was  there 
fifteen  years  and  the  church  prospered,  so  that  there  are  probably 
five  hundred  members.  He  spent  forty  years  mostly  on  the 
frontiers  and  at  his  own  expense ;  and  he  served  a  number  of 
times  on  the  standing  committee,  always  paying1  his  own  expense 
in  going.  They  raised  a  family  of  nine  children,  six  daughters 
and  three  sons,  and  they  have  two  sons-in-law  who  are  ministers, 
J.  O.  Tally,  Chicago,  and  W.  H.  Neher,  Inglewood,  California, 
and  one  deacon  son-in-law,  F.  M.  Calvert,  Westport,  Illinois. 
J.  S.  Flory  was  the  author  of  "Echoes  from  the  Wild  Frontier," 
"Mind  Mysteries,"  and  some  smaller  works.  He  is  a  graduate, 
and  a  thorough  student  of  the  science  of  vital  magnetism  and 
suggestive  therapeutics,  and  helped  to  start  the  Peoples'  Magnetic 
Institute,  at  Bridgewater,  Virginia,  and  is  a  practitioner  of  the 
science. 

(Portrait  93,  group  9.) 

KATHARINE      FORRER. 

Katharine  Forrer  was  born  near  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  1767* 
and  died  at  the  Shenandoah  Iron  Works,  Page  County,  Virginia, 
July  18,  1859,  in  her  ninetieth  year.  John  J.  Harsberger,  in  the 
Gospel  Visitor,  January,  i860,  says  of  this  estimable  lady:  "The 
private  virtues  of  Sister  Forrer  deserve  more  than  a  passing 
notice.  She  was  born  in  colonial  times,  and  lived  under  the  king 
of  England.  She  distinctly  remembered  the  tour  of  General 
Washington  to  select  a  site  for  the  location  of  the  seat  of  the 
national  government.  Washington  was  a  guest  of  her  father. 
Sister  Forrer  was  then  in  the  prime  of  girlhood,  and  treasured 
faithfully  the  image  of  the  father  of  his  county.  She  took  great 
pleasure  in  recounting  the  personal  traits  of  the  great  man  as  he 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  327 

appeared  at  that  time  on  his  snow-white  charger.     Her  husband 
died  while  yet  young,  and  Sister  Forrer  remained  a  widow. 

MICHAEL    FRANTZ. 

Michael  Frantz  was  born  in  the  Canton  of  St.  Joseph,  nigh  to 
Basel,  Switzerland  (date  not  given).  He  came  to  this  country 
in  September,  1727,  and  settled  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, within  the  limits  of  the  Cocalico  church,  about  seven  years 
before  its  organization.  He  was  here  but  a  short  time  until  he 
was  convinced  of  the  correctness  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Brethren 
Church,  and  he  became  a  member  of  the  small  body.  He  was 
baptized  by  Elder  Peter  Becker,  September  29,  1734,  on  the  same 
day  in  which  the  little  flock  was  organized  into  a  regular  church. 
As  this  church  was  in  need  of  a  minister,  Brother  Frantz  was 
commissioned  to  serve  as  an  exhorter.  In  this  relationship  he 
served  so  satisfactorily,  that,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  he  was 
ordained  to  be  their  elder ;  and  the  next  year,  1735,  he  accepted 
the  entire  care  of  the  church.  He  was  an  approved  and  success- 
ful laborer  in  the  Lord's  vineyard,  and  there  was  an  abundance 
of  fruit. 

It  is  said  that  he  departed  this  active  and  devoted  life  in 
December,  in  either  1747  or  1748.  During  his  thirteen  or  four- 
teen years'  service,  nearly  two  hundred  members  were  added  to 
the  Cocalico  church,  and  many  others  in  other  places. 

Elder  Frantz  was  not  only  a  good  and  highly-respected  minis- 
ter, but  he  was  an  apt  writer  and  good  poet.  He  composed  a 
number  of  excellent  pieces  that  were  published  by  Brother 
Christopher  Saw,  in  1770.  Selections  from  this  work  were  pub- 
lished in  the  Gospel  Visitor,  in  1858,  and  so,  more  than  a  century 
after  his  decease,  he  still  speaks ;  and  will  continue  to  do  good  by 
his  influence  as  a  faithful,  diligent,  persevering  servant  in  the 
Lord's  house. 

ELDER    LEONARD    FURRY. 

Elder  Leonard  Furry  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, July  15,  1806,  and  died  in  Bedford  County,  Pennsylvania, 


328  HISTORY    OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

December  8,  1877.  His  grandfather  emigrated  from  Switzer- 
land. The  original  name  was  Fohrer.  Leonard  was  brought  up 
a  Lutheran,  but  when  he  married,  connected  himself  with  the 
German  Baptist  brethren.  Soon  after  he  was  elected  deacon, 
then  to  the  ministry,  and  finally  ordained  bishop  of  the  Yellow 
Creek  congregation,  embracing  then  quite  a  large  territory.  He 
was  firm  in  the  faith,  preached  the  gospel  without  fear  or  favor, 
and  traveled  very  extensively.  His  manner  was  mild,  kind,  and 
persuasive.  Once  and  sometimes  twice  a  year,  he  would  take  a 
tour  to  preach  through  the  eastern  and  western  counties  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Virginia,  and  Ohio,  by  private  conveyances;  and  fre- 
quently by  rail  and  stage  through  Indiana,  Illinois,  Kansas,  and 
other  states,  which  in  those  days  was  considered  quite  an  under- 
taking. He  traveled  at  his  own  expense,  with  but  few  excep- 
tions. He  attended  almost  every  annual  meeting  during  his 
membership,  but  served  only  once  on  the  standing  committee. 

His  favorites  were  Elders  John  Kline,  James  Quinter,  and  D. 
P.  Sayler.  He  often  gave  glowing  descriptions  of  them.  From 
these  my  idea  of  the  first  was  a  father  in  the  church ;  the  second, 
a  theologian ;  the  third  an  orator.  In  after  years  I  became  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  the  three. 

He  always  considered  the  decisions  of  annual  meeting  as  sim- 
ply advisory,  and  claimed  that  the  gospel  was  sufficiently  plain 
and  comprehensive  without  any  additions,  and  deprecated  any 
strenuous  measures.  He  kept  well  informed  on  all  current  topics, 
read  much  history,  both  ancient  and  modern,  and  was  a  close  stu- 
dent of  the  Bible,  church  history,  and  commentaries.  His  life 
was  always  strictly  moral  and  temperate,  and  he  abstained  from 
the  very  appearance  of  evil.  In  number  of  contributions  to  the 
Gospel  Visitor  he  was  next  to  Elder  Quinter  and  a  great  help  at 
that  time  to  the  literature  of  the  church.  S.  B.  Furry. 

ELDER    JAMES    R.     GISH. 

Elder  James  R.  Gish  was  born  in  Roanoke  County,  Virginia, 
January  24,  1826,  and  in  the  year  1849,  the  daY  after  he  was 
twenty-three  years  old,  he  was  married  to  Barbara  Kindig,  of 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  2>29 

Augusta  County,  Virginia.  In  the  fall  of  1849  Brother  Gish  and 
wife,  in  company  with  others,  in  a  covered  wagon,  came  to  Illinois. 
They  were  six  weeks  on  the  road.  Brother  Gish  drove  to  a  beau- 
tiful knoll,  on  what  was  known  as  Grand  Prairie,  looked  over  the 
thousands  of  broad,  unoccupied  acres,  and  said,  "Barbara,  we  will 
drive  our  stake  right  here.  Here  we  can  live,  and  have  all  the 
free  range  for  cattle  just  as  long  as  we  may  want  it."  There  he 
built  his  first  residence.  The  free  range  did  not  last  long ;  and  on 
his  farm  the  city  of  Roanoke  has  since  been  built. 

In  1852,  he  and  his  wife  and  six  others  were  baptized.  Four 
months  later  he  was  elected  to  the  ministry,  and  the  next  year 
advanced  to  the  second  degree.  In  1863,  he  was  ordained  to  the 
eldership. 

By  occupation  Brother  Gish  was  a  farmer,  and  from  boyhood 
was  noted  for  his  sober  and  industrious  habits. 

A  short  time  before  his  death,  which  occurred  April  30,  1896, 
Brother  Gish  partly  arranged  for  the  publishing  of  a  New 
Testament,  with  the  references  following  each  verse.  This 
arrangement  was  lately  completed  by  Sister  Gish,  and  the  book 
is  now  on  the  market. 

Brother  Gish  spent  forty-four  years  in  active  mini-sterial  labors, 
preaching  in  not  less  than  twenty-two  states.  He  spent  many 
years  in  mission  work,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  number  of 
churches.  The  last  nine  years  of  his  useful  life  were  spent  in 
Arkansas,  in  which  state  he  died.  He  was  a  man  of  noble  moral 
and  Christian  qualities.  He  had  strong  convictions,  and  in  his 
preaching  never  gave  an  uncertain  sound.  No  one  ever  doubted 
his  sincerity. 

ELDER    GEORGE     HANAWALT. 

George  Hanawalt  was  born  near  McVeytown,  Pennsylvania, 
April  2,  183 1.  He  is  the  oldest  son  of  Joseph  R.  Hanawalt,  and 
grandson  of  George  Hanawalt,  who  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
War  a  short  time  at  its  close.  His  mother  was  Mary  Swigart, 
daughter  of  John  Swigart,  of  McVeytown. 

Young  George  was  of  a  studious  turn  of  mind,  and  very  fond 


33o 


HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 


of  books,  with  a  preference  for  the  marvelous.  About  1850  a 
school  of  the  academic  grade  was  opened  at  McVeytown  by  Prof. 
M.  W.  Woods.  George  plead  with  his  father  to  permit  him  to 
attend  this  school,  and  obtained  his  consent.     About  this  time  one 


ELDER   GEORGE    HAN  AW  ALT 


of  the  deacons  of  the  church  paid  an  official  visit  to  the  elder 
Hanawalt,  informing  him  that  high  schools  were  worldly  institu- 
tions, and  that  he  was  spoiling  his  boy  and  setting  a  bad  example 
to  others.  Those  who  remember  the  characteristics  of  Joseph  R. 
Hanawalt  can  easily  anticipate  his  reply.  The  young  man 
attended  a  term  of  sixteen  weeks  at  this  school.     About  ten  vears 


GERMAN   BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  33 1 

later  he  taught  in  the  same  school,  with  Prof.  S.  Z.  Sharp  as  prin- 
cipal, and  George  Hanawalt  assistant.  After  attaining  his  major- 
ity, he  was  elected  county  auditor,  and  served  six  years.  During 
his  incumbency  as  county  auditor,  he  succeeded  in  exposing  cor- 
ruption, and  bringing  about  several  reforms  in  the  county  affairs, 
especially  in  the  almshouse  department 

He  married  Miss  Caroline  McKee,  November,  1856.  She  died 
June  8,  1858.  He  married  Miss  Barbara  Replogle, '  daughter  of 
Daniel  Replogle,  of  New  Enterprise,  Pennsylvania,  February  9, 
i860.  She  died  June  8,  1873.  June  4,  1874,  he  married  Miss 
Lucinda  Stutzman,  of  Johnstown.  Of  these  women  Brother 
Hanawalt  has  been  heard  to  say  that  he  always  sought  in  prayer, 
and  that  the  good  Lord  had  each  time  given  him  an  angel  for  a 
helpmate. 

He  became  a  member  of  the  Tunker  Church  in  June,  1858,  and 
was  elected  to  the  ministry  in  June,  1864.  He  labored  in  that 
capacity  in  the  Spring  Run  congregation  during  her  most  pros- 
perous years.  In  1879  he  moved  to  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania, 
then  the  largest  congregation  in  the  state.  At  this  place  he 
labored  during  the  transitional  period  of  the  denomination,  the 
time  which  tried  men's  souls.  He  did  what  he  could  in  a  manly 
and  brotherly  manner  to  avert  division,  but  when  the  division 
came,  he  went  with  the  annual  meeting  party. 

Brother  Hanawalt  took  an  active  part  in  building  the  new 
church  in  Johnstown,  now  owned  by  the  Brethren  Church,  as  well 
as  in  settling  the  troubles  that  arose  in  regard  to  the  disposition 
of  church  property  in  the  division  of  the  denomination.  He  also 
assisted  in  building  several  other  houses  of  worship  in  the  same 
congregation,  among  them  the  Walnut  Grove  church. 

Finding  his  family  filling  up  with  boys,  he  began  to  look  about 
for  a  farm  which  might  afford  employment  for  them.  This  he 
found  in  the  Ligonier  Valley,  Westmoreland  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania. Here  he  found  some  scattered  members  of  the  church, 
whom  he  soon  organized  into  a  congregation,  which  is  called  the 
Ligonier.  A  small  house  of  worship  was  built  at  Waterford,  now 
called  Boucher.     He  also  presided  over  the  Bolivar  church.     He, 


332 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


however,  resigned  the  charges  at  Bolivar  and  Cokeville,  in  1898. 
Elder  George  Hanawalt  was  a  logical  reasoner,  inclining 
toward  verbosity;  but  the  intelligent  listener  who  carefully  fol- 
lowed his  course  could  not  fail  to  comprehend  the  truth  set  forth 
by  the  speaker. 

ELDER    JACOB     H.     HAUGER. 

Elder  Jacob  H.  Hauger  was  born  October  26,  1805,  in  Somerset 
County,  Pennsylvania,  and 
died  at  Opdyke,  Jefferson 
County,  Illinois,  August  13, 
1887,  aged  eighty-one  years 
nine  months  and  seventeen 
days. 

He  was  an  active  member 
in  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  till  July,  1834,  when 
he  and  his  wife  united  with 
the  German  Baptist  Church, 
and  were  baptized  by  Elder 
Peter  Cober.  He  was  elected 
to  the  office  of  deacon  in 
1834,  to  the  ministry  in  1835, 
and  ordained  as  elder  May  26, 
1854.  He  preached  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-nine  funerals, 
and  performed  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  marriage  cere- 
monies. He  lived  nine  years 
at  Waterloo,  Iowa,  about  fourteen  years  at  Dutchtown,  Illinois, 
and  four  years  at  Opdyke.  He  married  Catharine  Yowler,  May 
4,  1829. 

JOSEPH    R.     HANAWALT. 

Henry  George  Hanawalt  came  to  America  about  the  year  1753, 
and  settled  near  Waynesburg,  Cumberland  County,  Pennsylvania, 
now  McVeytown,  Mifflin  County.     His  second  son,  George,  occu- 


ELDER    CHRISTIAN    CUSTER. 

Many  years  pastor  of   the   germantown 

and  philadelphia  churches. 


GERMAN  BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  333 

pied  the  Hanawalt  homestead.  He  married  Susannah  Rothrock, 
and  his  brother  John  married  Mary  Rothrock,  Susannah's  twin 
sister,  about  the  same  time,  and  became  a  Tunker  minister. 

Joseph  Rothrock  Hanawalt  was  born  January  4,  18 10,  on  the 
homestead  of  his  grandfather,  being  the  son  of  George  Hanawalt. 
He  married  Mary  Swigart.  He  and  his  wife  were  baptized  in 
the  year  1840,  in  the  Lewistown  congregation.  He  was  elected 
to  the  ministry  about  1844.  He  had  a  fair  common-school  educa- 
tion and  was  a  good  reader.  His  mission  occurred  at  a  period 
when  there  was  great  demand  for  English  preaching  in  the  church 
and  neighborhood,  and  he  was  the  first  in  his  community  whose 
labors  were  wholly  in  English.  The  meetings  at  that  time  were 
held  in  the  houses  and  barns  of  the  members,  the  terms  coming 
around  about  every  twenty  weeks.  The  congregational  territory 
embraced  the  whole  of  Mifflin  County.  Previous  to  1845,  Joseph 
Rothrock  was  presiding  elder.  About  that  time  Joseph  died,  and 
his  son  Abraham  was  ordained  to  the  eldership.  He  was  a  wor- 
thy man  in  every  way,  but  was  not  gifted  as  a  preacher.  He 
moved  to  Kansas  Territory  about  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  was  fatally  shot  by  raiders. 

Joseph  R.  Hanawalt  was  ordained  to  the  eldership  about  the 
year  185 1.  Under  his  administration  two  meeting-houses  were 
built  in  one  year,  in  the  panical  year  of  1857,  one  at  Spring  Run, 
and  the  other  at  Dry  Valley,  being  about  sixteen  miles  apart.  In 
1866  the  congregation  was  divided,  the  eastern  part  retaining  the 
name  of  Lewistown  church,  and  the  western  part  assuming  that 
of  Spring  Run.  Brother  Hanawalt  retained  the  oversight  of  both 
congregations  for  several  years,  until  Jacob  Mohler  was  ordained 
elder  of  the  Lewistown  church. 

Brother  Hanawalt's  church  at  that  time  had  a  membership  of 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty,  with  a  good  home  mission  spirit. 
By  the  year  1867,  he  had  quite  a  corps  of  assistant  ministers  in 
his  congregation.  He  introduced  a  system  of  itinerate  mission 
work.  He  had  three  committees  of  two  preachers  each,  who 
preached  at  sixteen  different  points,  requiring  from  five  to  twenty- 
five  miles  of  travel  to  the  several  appointments.     This  system  was 


334  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

maintained  to  the  close  of  his  life.     He  died  February  15,  1877. 

Brother  Hanawalt  was  an  energetic  man,  and  created  a  great 
demand  for  preaching  over  a  wide  extent  of  country,  and  faced 
the  most  inclement  weather  to  carry  the  gospel  to  those  who  were 
anxious  to  hear  it.  He  was  married  the  second  time,  to  Eve 
Kauffman,  and  was  the  father  of  sixteen  children.  Four  of  his 
sons  were  called  to  the  ministry. 

Brother  W.  J.  Swigart,  of  Juniata  College,  gives  the  follow- 
ing testimony  to  the  worth  of  Elder  Hanawalt : — 

"He  was  the  elder  of  the  church  in  which  I  was  born  and  bap- 
tized and  installed  in  the  ministry.  His  life  was  largely  given 
to  the  church.  He  was  possessed  of  more  than  ordinary  natural 
rhetorical  power.  His  education,  of  course,  was  limited,  but  he 
surely  was  an  eloquent  man ;  and  when  he  would  preach  on  some 
subject,  like  faith,  he  had  few  equals.  He  could  make  more  use 
of  the  little  stock  of  information  he  had  than  any  other  man  I 
ever  heard  preach.  He  had  "Josephus'  History  of  the  Jews," 
and,  I  think,  one  or  two  volumes  of  "Barnes'  Notes,"  and  a  few 
other  books,  but  I  have  heard  jhim  grow  eloquent  over  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  draw  the  scenes  with  wonderful 
power  and  vividness." 

ELDER     HIEL     HAMILTON. 

Hiel  Hamilton  was  born  May  4,  181 1,  in  the  state  of  New 
York.  His  parents  were  of  English  descent.  They  emigrated 
to  Fayette  County,  Indiana,  and  resided  a  few  miles  southeast 
of  Connersville.  When  he  was  twelve  years  old  His  mother  died, 
leaving  three  sons  and  a  daughter.  A  year  later  young  Hiel 
went  to  live  with  James  Taylor,  in  the  eastern  part  of  Union 
County,  Indiana,  where  he  resided  until  he  was  eighteen  years 
old.  He  then  went  to  work  by  the  month  on  Four-mile  Creek, 
where  he  first  saw  members  of  the  German  Baptist  Church.  The 
brethren,  wearing  long  beards  and  plain  clothing,  and  saluting 
each  other,  were  an  unusual  sight,  and  were  not  without  effect 
on  young  Hamilton. 

September  3,  1830,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Nancy  King- 


336 


HISTORY    OF     THE     TUNKERS. 


ery.  In  the  fall  of  1831  he  and  his  wife  united  with  the  Church 
of  the  Brethren,  and  were  baptised  by  Elder  John  Moyer. 

As  Brother  Hamilton  had  grown  to  manhood  where  school 
facilities  were  very  poor,  his  early  education  was  somewhat 
neglected,  but  he  now  procured  some  books,  and  by  close  study 
he  acquired  a  fair  education. 

In  the  fall  of  1845  ne  was  elected  to  the  ministry ;  and  on  the 
last  day  of  August,  1846,  he  moved  to  Howard  County,  Indiana, 
and  located  on  a  farm  about  ten  miles  northwest  of  the  present 
city  of  Kokomo.  Howard  County  was  then  an  unbroken  wilder- 
ness, there  being  no  public  road  nearer  than  three  miles.  There 
were,  at  that  time,  four  or  five  families  of  the  brethren  living  in 
the  county,  who  were  members  of  the  Bachelor's  Run  congrega- 
tion. The  services  were  held  in  private  houses,  in  a  rotation  of 
nineteen  different  places  of  meeting,  and  were  held  every  two 
weeks.  June  21,  1856,  Brother  Hamilton  was  ordained  to  the 
eldership  of  the  Howard  congregation.  From  that  time  until 
November,  1880,  he  was  connected  with  the  church  in  Howard, 
Carroll,  and  Cass  Counties. 

He  was  twice  married,  the  second  time  to  Mary  Crull,  of  Car- 
roll County,  where  he  resided  for  some  time,  enjoying  the  respect 
of  a  large  circle  of  acquaintances  in  and  out  of  the  church. 
Brother  Hamilton  attended  twenty-one  annual  meetings,  and 
served  on  the  standing  committee  four  times. 

PROFESSOR  GEORGE   B.    HOLSINGER. 

George  B.,  son  of  Joseph  H.  Holsinger,  was  born  in  Bedford 
County,  Pennsylvania,  May  10,  1857.  He  was  fond  of  music 
from  childhood,  but  had  no  method  of  expressing  his  thoughts 
except  by  song,  his  home  being  in  the  mountain  regions,  far 
away  from  instruments  which  could  be  used  in  connection  with 
the  human  voice.  More  than  that,  there  was  a  prejudice  against 
singing  by  note,  among  young  George's  most  intimate  relations. 
However,  his  father  manifested  a  progressive  disposition  in  favor 
of  the  gamut,  which  he  regarded  as  essential  to  his  son's  success- 
ful study  of  music. 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL. 


337 


His  first  instrument  was  a  German  accordion,  with  which  he 
spent  many  pleasant  hours.  Then  his  father  secured  a  reed 
organ. 

About  this  time,  1875,  "Gospel  Hymns,"  No.  1,  was  published, 
and  a  copy  found  its  way  into  the  Holsinger  family,  and  every 


G.  B.  HOLSINGER 


piece  in  the  book  was  played  and  sung  by  George  and  his  father. 
In  1876  a  severe  accident  disabled  him  for  farm  work,  and  he 
was  sent  to  a  normal  school  for  public-school  teachers.  After- 
ward he  taught  school  for  some  years.  During  this  time  he  con- 
ducted singing-schools  at  many  places  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
now  blushes  at  the  thought  of  the  kind  of  work  that  he  must 
have  done.     A  little  incident  worth  mentioning  threw  him  into 

22 


33$  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS.    ' 

the  field  of  musical  labor.  In  failing  to  prepare  and  to  perform 
satisfactorily  a  duty  in  a  literary  society,  it  was  suggested  that 
he  redeem  himself  by  singing  a  song  instead,  which  was  so 
well  received  that  then  and  there  he  resolved  to  make  music  his 
life-work.  In  a  very  few  weeks  he  was  on  his  way  to  attend  a 
musical  normal.  This  was  in  1881,  and  the  same  school  was 
attended  again  the  next  year,  taking  the  first  prize  in  musical 
composition  both  years.  In  1882,  at  the  founding  of  the  Bridge- 
water  College,  at  Bridgewater,  Virginia,  he  was  called  to  take 
charge  of  the  musical  department,  and  has  held  the  same 
position  ever  since. 

In  1888  he  attended  one  of  the  most  profitable  normals  of  his 
educational  course.  It  was  held  by  Prof.  B.  C.  Unseld  and 
P.  J.  Merges.  Other  normals  attended  were  as  follows :  One  at 
Silver  Lake,  under  Dr.  George  F.  Root  and  Fred  W.  Root,  in 
1892,  which  makes  one  of  the  most  pleasant  recollections  of  his 
life,  because  of  the  inspiration  and  encouragement  received ;  one 
under  W.  H.  Pontius  and  J.  M.  Dungan ;  and  another  at  the 
great  Philadelphia  Summer  School,  conducted  by  such  renowned 
teachers  as  W.  S.  B.  Matthews,  Wm.  Mason,  Fred  W.  Root, 
J.  C.  Fillmore,  Chas.  W.  Landon,  and  A.  J.  Clark.  His  first 
musical  compositions  appeared  in  "Good  Tidings,"  No.  I.  On 
the  title-page  of  this  book  appeared  Mr.  George  B.  Holsinger's 
name  as  one  of  the  assistant  authors.  In  1893  "Psalms  and 
Hymns"  was  published,  with  J.  Henry  Showalter  and  George 
B.  Holsinger  editors,  assisted  by  four  of  the  pupils  of  the  latter. 

Some  of  Brother  Holsinger's  best  new  tunes  are,  "Gathered 
Home,"  "At  the  Saviour's  Right  Hand,"  and  "Steer  Straight  for 
Me,  Father."  The  latter,  with  a  dozen  others,  are  published  in 
sheet  form. 

George  B.  Holsinger  is  now  in  musical  authority  of  the  Ger- 
man Baptist  Church,  compiling  and  editing  the  Tune  and 
Church  Hymn-book  and  Sunday-school  music.  One  of  his 
books,  which  is  called  "Psalms  and  Hymns,"  has  attained  a  sale 
of  over  100,000  copies.  He  has  been  associated  as  author  and 
compiler  of  six  different  books.  Of  "Gospel  Songs  and  Hymns," 
No.  1,  33,000  copies  have  been  sold. 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  339 

ELDER    CHRISTIAN     HOPE. 

Christian  Hope,  first  missionary  to  Denmark,  was  born  in 
Fyne,  Denmark,  December  7,  1844. 

Elder  Hope  came  to  Amercia  in  1870.  Six  years  later  he  was 
sent  to  Denmark  by  the  northern  district  of  Illinois,  to  establish 
the  Danish  mission.  Here  he  labored  continuously  for  about 
eleven  years.  The  work  extended  also  to  Sweden  and  Norway. 
After  returning  to  America,  Elder  Hope  made  three  visits  to 
the  Scandinavian  Mission,  under  the  direction  of  the  mission 
board.  In  all  he  labored  about  twenty-three  years  for  the  mis- 
sion board.  He  was  the  pioneer  in  foreign  missionary  work  of 
the  Tunker  Church,  and  his  influence  in  creating  the  present 
missionary  sentiment  can  not  be  estimated. 

Brother  Hope  possessed  unique  powers  of  thought  and 
expression.  He  took  hopeful  views  of  life,  the  future  of  the 
church,  and  the  growth  of  God's  kingdom.  He  was  a  close  stu- 
dent, and  had  accumulated  an  extensive  library.  In  his  spare 
moments  he  could  be  found  with  his  Greek  Testament  and 
Lexicons. 

A  few  weeks  before  his  death  he  came  home  from  the  mission 
field  in  Texas,  carrying  with  him  the  germs  of  the  fever  to  which 
he  succumbed.  He  died  at  Herington,  Kansas,  July  31,  1899. 
(Portrait  50,  group  4.) 

ELDER     DANIEL     M.     HOLSINGER. 

Elder  Daniel  Mack  Holsinger  was  born  in  Bedford  County, 
Pennsylvania,  October  22,  1812.  He  was  a  son  of  Elder  John 
Holsinger,  who  was  born  July  21,  1768.  His  mother  was 
Elizabeth  Mack,  and  she  was  born  October  13,  1776. 

In  his  boyhood  days  opportunities  for  obtaining  an  education 
were  very  poor,  being  confined  to  the  old-fashioned  log  school- 
houses,  with  their  slab  benches  to  sit  on.  He  and  Polly  Ritz 
were  married  August  12,  1832,  and  both  joined  the  Tunkers  the 
following  year.  He  was  elected  to  the  ministry  about  1841. 
Feeling  the  need  of  a  better  education  in  order  to  become  pro- 
ficient and  useful  in  his  new  calling,  he  attended  night  school 


34-0  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

in  the  town  of  Martinsburg,  taught  by  Prof.  John  Miller.  At 
that  time  he  was  carrying  on  the  coopering  business  for  a  liveli- 
hood. His  principal  study  was  English  grammar  and  such  other 
acquirements  as  would  assist  him  in  his  ministerial  duties.  In 
his  early  ministry  he  was  about  the  only  English-speaking  Tunker 
preacher  in  the  community.  For  that  reason  and  because  of  his 
satisfactory  administration  of  his  duties,  he  officiated  at  most  of 
the  marriages  and  burials  in  Central  Morrison's  Cove. 

He  was  possessed  of  an  exceedingly  retentive  memory,  and, 
being  a  close  student  of  the  Scriptures  as  well  as  a  lover  of  poetry, 
he  had  at  his  command  almost  the  entire  Word  of  God,  as  also 
the  hymn-book  of  his  day,  and  could  recite  page  after  page  from 
many  of  the  poets.  During  the  last  fifteen  years  he  was  almost 
totally  blind,  but  his  great  store  of  knowledge  was  a  constant 
source  of  consolation  to  him,  and  lighted  his  pathway  to  the 
grave. 

A  local  biographer  said  of  him :  "Daniel  M.  Holsinger  adhered, 
during  his  lifetime,  tenaciously  to  the  conservative  branch  of  the 
church,  and  so  averse  was  he  to  any  encroachments  of  its  rules 
and  doctrines  that  he  could  not  have  any  sympathy  with  the  new 
departure.  Indeed,  his  convictions  were  so  deep-rooted  that  he 
had  no  patience  whatever  with  the  progressives.  To  him  the 
German  Baptist  Church  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  his  services 
and  self-denials,  that  should  be  perpetuated  in  a  monument  of 
stone  and  marble  erected  to  his  memory." 

He  was  ordained  to  the  eldership  in  1863,  and  served  on  the 
standing  committee  on  several  occasions.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  John  A.  Bowman  Committee,  sent  by  annual  meeting  to 
Tennessee,  and  was  sent  as  a  missionary  to  the  state  of  Maine. 
He  died  at  Clover  Creek,  January  31,  1886. 

His  wife  survived  him  more  than  eight  years,  passing  from 
this  world  on  July  15,  1894,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years  four 
months  twenty-six  days. 

These  parents  had  eight  children,  four  sons  and  four  daughters, 
of  whom  the  author  of  this  work  was  the  first-born,  and  all  were 
living  on  January  1,  1901. 


342  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

SAMUEL    W.     HOOVER. 

Samuel  W.  Hoover  was  born  April  16,  1837,  near  Liberty, 
Montgomery  County,  Ohio.  There  thirty  years  of  his  life  were 
spent  on  the  farm.  The  pioneer  log  schoolhouse  was  his  col- 
lege, yet  this  meager  advantage  enabled  him  to  secure  a  practical 
education.  January  26,  i860,  he  was  married  to  Catharine 
Basore. 

In  August,  1882,  he  entered  the  ministry.  Though  well 
advanced  in  years,  he  took  into  the  pulpit  the  energy  of  youth, 
and  indomitable  spirit  to  press  on  into  larger  usefulness.  His 
voice  gave  no  uncertain  sound.  "Growth,"  "progress,"  "develop- 
ment," were  the  key-words  of  his  discourses.  He  saw  clearly  the 
needs  of  the  church  in  missionary,  benevolent,  and  educational 
lines,  and  set  to  work  at  once  to  create  sentiment  in  favor  of 
advancement.  His  most  active  ministry  was  spent  in  the  West 
Dayton  church. 

In  church  council  he  was  prompt  and  fearless  in  asserting  the 
right  of  individual  opinion.  He  made  no  boast  of  his  independ- 
ence, yet  he  was,  in  the  fullest  sense,  independent.  His  wisdom 
and  keen  sense  of  justice  fitted  him  especially  to  be  an  arbitrator. 
He  advocated  strongly  the  principle  of  arbitration  and  the  law 
of  Matt.  18:  15-17.  Many  were  the  times  that  he  was  called  to 
adjust  some  unpleasant  case  in  family  or  church,  and  rarely  did 
he  fail  to  reach  an  amicable  settlement.  Thus  he  was  a  true 
lawyer. 

He  was  best  known  to  the  brotherhood  through  his  connection 
with  the  book  and  tract  work,  and  since  its  consolidation,  as  a 
member  of  the  General  Mission  Board.  General  Conference 
located  the  work  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  but  without  any  means  to 
begin  operations.  Sentiment  was  not  yet  ripe  for  this  movement. 
Solicitors  were  appointed,  but  acted  too  slowly,  or  failed  alto- 
gether. Money  was  the  first  thing  needed.  Accordingly,  after 
many  discouragements  and  failures,  a  few  dollars  were  secured 
from  the  "Gentiles."  This  fact  is  not  generally  known.  The 
real  beginning  will  some  day  be  written  in  the  light  of  its  success ; 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  343 

then  the   church  will   wonder  why   she  hesitated  to   support   it 
liberally  from  the  start. 

He  had  a  wide  circle  of  friends,  who  will  remember  him  for 
his  genial,  social  nature.  It  was  not  learning,  or  wit,  or  brilliancy 
that  won  friends,  but  a  humor  peculiar  to  himself.  Children 
were  his  first  friends,  in  whom  he  took  delight.  If  he  was  ever 
too  jovial,  it  was  because  a  nature  like  his  must  find  expression  in 
humorous  moods,  as  well  as  in  the  solemnity  of  the  pulpit.  He 
frequently  indulged  in  that  humor  which  makes  life  sunnier  and 
religion  more  human.  Youth,  he  thought,  should  dwell  immortal 
in  the  aged  frame. 

As  a  preacher,  he  delighted  in  the  work  of  the  pulpit,  though 
he  was  no  sermonizer.  His  fixed  habits  were  against  acquiring 
ease  and  grace  of  manner.  What  he  lacked  in  these  he  supplied 
in  practicability,  for  if  he  was  not  practical,  he  was  nothing.  His 
methods  were  his  own.  Most  of  his  subjects  were  taken  from 
the  gospels  or  Paul's  writings,  Paul's  being  his  favorite. 

The  powers  of  an  athlete  were  given  to  him,  but  they  were 
wasted  in  overwork  until  the  pink  of  health  was  gone  forever. 
He  was  not  overtaken  by  old  age  or  infirmity;  he  was  not  ripe 
for  the  grave.  He  was  growing  into  larger  usefulness.  He  saw 
the  cause  growing  to  which  he  had  given  his  best  thought, — the 
benevolent  institutions, — and  was  glad. 

He  often  expressed  a  desire  to  die  in  active  service,  but  never 
did  he  suppose  that  his  would  be  a  tragic  end,  for  God  had  erected 
a  pulpit  for  his  death-bed.  On  Sunday,  March  10,  1895,  he 
preached  in  the  morning.  The  afternoon  was  spent  in  hard 
study  for  the  evening  service,  in  communion  with  God.  What 
his  prayers  were,  none  will  ever  know,  but  God  answered  them 
strangely  and  tragically.  He  entered  upon  that  memorable  serv- 
ice somewhat  weary,  but  with  a  glowing  spirit.  "Whatsoever  a 
man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap,"  was  the  text.  As  he  neared 
the  end  of  the  discourse,  his  words  became  prophetic.  "One  by 
one  we  are  passing  over,"  were  spoken,  and,  in  an  instant,  his 
great  soul  stepped  into  the  eternal  world. 

What  a  change  of  audience !     Angels  instead  of  mortals !     His 


344  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

sermon  was  to  be  completed  in  the  "temple  not  made  with  hands," 
or,  rather,  a  new  one  of  joy  and  praise  begun.  He  left  no  fare- 
well, for  "God  took  him,  and  he  was  not." 

ELDER    JOHN     HOOVER. 

John  Hoover  was  born  in  Morrison's  Cove,  Pennsylvania,  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1782,  and  died  November  7,  1839,  aged  fifty-seven  years 
nine  months   and  four  days. 

Although  under  seven  years  of  age  at  the  time  when  Elder 
Hoover  died,  I  distinctly  remember  hearing  my  parents  discuss 
the  seriousness  of  the  occasion.  He  was  regarded  as  a  minister 
of  unusual  eloquence  and  ability,  and  was  cut  down  in  the  prime 
of  life.  His  wife  was  a  sister  to  Elder  George  Brumbaugh,  and 
was  favorably  known  in  the  Clover  Creek  community  as  a 
Christian  woman. 

ELDER    CYRUS     HOOVER. 

Cyrus  Hoover  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania, 
October  16,  1821.  His  parents  moved  to  Wayne  County,  Ohio, 
in  1840,  and  settled  on  a  farm,  which  became  the  property  of 
Brother  Cyrus  Hoover,  on  which  he  lived  and  died.  He  and 
his  wife  joined  the  German  Baptist  Church  in  1853,  and  he  was 
elected  to  the  ministry  by  that  denomination  in  1869,  and  ordained 
to  the  eldership  of  the  Wooster  congregation  in  1878.  The 
annual  meeting  of  1872  was  held  on  his  place.  Elder  Hoover 
died  January  8,  1901.     Age,  seventy-nine  years. 

PETER     KEYSER,     JR. 

The  Keyser  family  was  notable  in  Europe,  principally  on 
account  of  its  strict  adherence  to  the  doctrine  of  Menno  Simon. 
Leonard  Keyser,  one  of  the  ancestors,  was  publicly  burned  at  the 
stake  near  Scharding,  Bavaria,  in  August,  1527,  on  account  of 
his  religion. 

Persecution  caused  the  family  to  shift  about  from  place  to 
place,  until  they  settled  at  Amsterdam,  the  chief  city  of  Holland. 
From  thence  Peter  Dirck  Keyser,  great-grandfather  of  the  sub- 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  345 

ject  of  this  memoir,  emigrated  to  America,  in  1688,  and  became 
one  of  the  original  settlers  of  Germantown.  Here  his  grand- 
father, Dirck  Keyser,  was  born,  September  26,  1701,  and  his 
father,  Peter  Keyser,  August  8,  1732. 

Our  Peter  Keyser,  Jr.,  was  born  November  9,  1766,  at  German  - 
town.  Peter  Keyser,  Sr.,  was  the  first  of  the  family  to  unite  with 
the  Tunkers.  He  was  baptized  by  Elder  Alexander  Mack,  Octo- 
ber 5,  1769.  He  died  April  10,  1818,  and  is  buried  in  the  Concord 
burying-ground,  where  most  of  the  old  brethren  were  interred 
before  they  had  a  cemetery  of  their  own. 

Peter  Keyser,  Jr.,  was  baptized  by  Martin  Urner,  September  25, 
1784,  when  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  age.  In  his  youth  he 
was  remarkable  for  quickness  of  perception  and  his  wonderful 
memory.  He  could  commit  whole  chapters  of  Scripture  with 
little  effort.  This  remarkable  trait  of  character  made  him  prom- 
inent among  his  friends,  and  stimulated  him  to  still  greater  effort 
in  the  line  of  committing  Scripture  to  memory.  It  is  related  that 
he  fixed  a  shelf  above  the  hopper  of  the  bark-mill,  on  which  he 
placed  his  Bible  so  that  he  might  read  while  grinding  bark  for  his 
father,  who  was  by  occupation  a  tanner.  In  this  way  he  was 
enabled  to  commit  chapter  after  chapter,  until  he  had  the  whole 
of  the  New  Testament  and  the  greater  part  of  the  Old  Testament 
fixed  in  his  memory.  He  also  had  the  reputation  of  leading  an 
exemplary  life  in  unaffected  piety.  He  was  called  to  the  ministry 
in  1785,  not  long  after  having  been  baptized.  In  this  calling  he 
acquainted  himself  so  well  that  he  was  ordained  elder  on  August 
2,  1802.  He  died  May  21,  1849,  in  tne  same  house  in  which,  as 
he  used  to  say,  he  was  twice  born,  in  the  eighty-third  year  of  his 

age. 

He  was  pastor  of  the  Germantown  and  Philadelphia  churches, 
and  elder  forty-seven  years.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  Tunker 
Church  ever  had  a  more  efficient  preacher  in  the  German  or  Eng- 
lish language  than  Peter  Keyser.  He  was  also  distinguished  as 
an  orator,  and  drew  large  crowds  of  hearers  of  all  denominations ; 
even  Roman  Catholics  are  said  to  have  attended  his  preaching. 

He  was,  like  Saul,  "higher  than  all  the  people,"  being  six  feet 


346  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

three  inches  tall,  spare  in  form,  and  very  athletic.  He  was  blind 
for  many  years,  but  continued  to  preach.  He  would  name  a 
chapter,  open  the  Bible,  and  repeat  it  without  missing  a  word.  If 
others  should  omit  a  word  in  reading  a  chapter  in  his  presence, 
he  was  sure  to  correct  them. 

He  continued  in  the  tanning  business  with  his  father  in  Ger- 
mantown  until  1794,  when  he  removed  to  Philadelphia,  and 
embarked  in  the  lumber  business.  In  this  he  continued  until 
1828,  when  he  retired  and  returned  to  Germantown,  and  occupied 
the  house  left  him  by  his  father. 

He  was  in  the  habit  of  rising  regularly  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning  to  read  and  study  until  time  of  business.  This  was  a 
source  of  great  interest  and  pleasure  to  him,  but  may  also  have 
been  a  cause  of  losing  his  sight. 

Mr.  Simpson,  the  author  of  the  "Eminent  Philadelphians," 
says :  "He  had  the  most  intimate  knowledge  of  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures, both  in  English  and  in  German,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether 
any  other  man  could  repeat  them  more  accurately  than  he.  It 
appeared  as  though  he  remembered  the  very  words,  verses,  and 
chapters  of   the   entire   Bible." 

Reverend  Dr.  Philip  F.  Mayer  is  said  to  have  made  the  remark 
that  if  by  accident  every  copy  of  the  Scriptures  should  be 
destroyed,  they  would  not  be  lost  as  long  as  Peter  Keyser  lived. 

He  was  "diligent  in  business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the 
Lord."  Besides  faithfully  discharging  his  secular  and  ministerial 
duties,  he  was  also  engaged  in  many  other  measures  for  the  good 
of  his  fellow-man.  He  was,  for  a  long  while,  a  member  of  the 
board  of  health,  and  for  some  time  its  secretary.  He  was 
inspector  and  treasurer  of  the  public  prisons.  He  was  director 
and  controller  of  the  public  schools  when  the  system  was  adopted 
by  the  state,  and  continued  in  that  office  until  his  removal  to  his 
estate  in  Germantown.  Our  biographer  says  he  was  like  Job, 
"Eyes  to  the  blind,  feet  to  the  lame,  a  father  to  the  poor,  and  the 
cause  which  he  knew  not  he  searched  out."  During  the  whole 
of  his  extensive  business  career,  he  never  sued  anybody  nor  was 
sued. 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  347 

ELDER     JOHN     KLINE. 

Elder  John  Kline,  of  Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  was  born 
June  17,  1797.  During  his  active  life  he  was  not  only  a  farmer, 
but  a  physician,  an  author,  and  a  minister  of  extensive  and  varied 
experiences.  He  was  married  and  lived  on  a  homestead  near  his 
place  of  birth.  Having  no  children  of  their  own,  the  farm  fur- 
nished an  ample  living,  so  that  he  was  enabled  to  devote  most 
of  his  time  to  other  pursuits.  As  a  physician  he  practiced  the 
botanic  system  of  medicine,  and  his  practice  grew  largely  out  of 
his  conviction  that  the  sick  needed  his  knowledge  as  a  medical 
advisor,  as  well  as  his  counsel  for  their  spiritual  benefit. 

He  kept  a  diary  of  each  day's  transactions,  his  travels,  texts, 
sketches  of  sermons,  council  meetings,  and  journeys.  He 
possessed  a  commanding  presence,  an  orotund  voice,  a  ready 
delivery,  and  as  a  minister,  he  was  impressive  and  successful. 
The  lucid  manner  in  which  he  treated  his  subjects,  his  calm  and 
collected  demeanor,  his  immense  store  of  scriptural  knowledge, 
and  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  human  nature,  gave  his  gospel 
ministry  an  immediate  and  lasting  influence.  His  descriptions  of 
the  judgment  day  make  deep  and  lasting  impressions. 

He  traveled  extensively  on  horseback,  from  church  to  church 
and  from  house  to  house.  In  many  a  place  the  people  heard  the 
gospel  for  the  first  time  through  Brother  Kline.  He  attended 
the  annual  meetings  of  the  church  regularly,  and  extended  his 
journey  to  engage  in  preaching.  During  one  of  these  tours  his 
wife  received  word  of  his  death,  and  fell  into  a  state  of  mental 
imbecility,  from  which  she  never  recovered. 

He  was  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  truth,  and  he  left  the  stamp 
of  his  life  and  character  upon  the  church  where  he  lived,  and 
upon  the  members  wherever  he  labored.  He  was  a  wise  and 
efficient  counselor,  faithful  to  every  trust  committed  to  him.  He 
advised  young  ministers  to  study  the  Bible  in  order  to  sustain  the 
doctrine  of  the  church. 

He  considered  it  his  privilege  and  duty  to  represent  his  district 
in  the  annual  meeting,  and  to  assist  in  the  work  of  the  confer- 


348  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

cnce.  During  the  Civil  War  he  continued  to  attend,  and  he  was 
a  connecting  link  in  the  chain  that  bound  the  church  together, 
though  separated  by  the  clash  of  contending  armies.  The  last 
annual  meeting  he  attended  was  in  1864.  He  was  then  in  his 
sixty-seventh  year;  and  he  built  better 'than  he  knew. 

On  June  15,  1864,  near  the  summit  of  a  little  ridge,  about  two 
miles  from  home,  he  was  found  dead,  having  been  slain  by  violent 
hands,  in  the  covert  of  the  woods  by  the  roadside.  Amid  the 
lamentations  of  the  people  he  loved  and  who  loved  him,  and  whom 
he  faithfully  served,  he  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  Linville  Creek 
cemetery,  by  Elder  D.  Hays. 

We  copy  the  following  remarks  from  the  Christian  Family 
Companion,  as  published  by  the  author  on  receiving  the  news  of 
the  death  of  Elder  Kline :  "The  painful  intelligence  of  the  death 
of  this  esteemed  old  brother  will  be  more  the  signal  for  sorrow 
than  of  surprise.  Being  anti-slavery,  anti-war,  anti-secession,  it 
could  not  be  expected  that  he  should  escape  the  vengeance  of  the 
pro-slavery  animosity  of  the  confederates.  The  name  of  Brother 
John  Kline  of  Virginia  will  pass  down  to  posterity  as  the  first 
Christian  martyr  of  our  church  in  America.  He  was  moderator 
of  the  annual  meeting  at  Clover  Creek,  Pennsylvania,  in  1863, 
where  my  home  was  at  that  time.  I  still  remember  very  dis- 
tinctly the  sympathy  felt  and  expressed  when  the  old  veteran  de- 
parted for  his  home  in  the  sunny  south,  and  can  still  see  the  tears 
which  rolled  down  his  manly  cheeks  as  he  bade  farewell  to  the 
brethren  and  sisters,  as  we  felt,  for  the  last  time.  He,  however, 
reached  his  home  safely,  and  at  our  last  conference,  in  Indiana, 
in  1864,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  again,  and  interchang- 
ing sentiments  on  moral  and  religious  subjects.  He  was  again 
chosen  moderator,  and  discharged  his  duties  with  credit  to  him- 
self and  the  church.  After  laboring  in  the  community  where 
conference  had  been  held,  he  started  upon  his  journey  to  his 
home  and  his  flock  in  Virginia,  to  be  seen  no  more  by  us,  as  the 
sequel  proves.  We  mourn,  but  not  as  those  who  have  no  hope, 
feeling  assured  that  if  martyr  blood  was  required  of  our  church, 
no  nobler  victim  could  have  been  selected." 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL. 


349 


ELDER  GEORGE  KLINE. 

George  Kline  was  a  German.     He  was  born  at  Zwei-Brucken, 
October  9,  171 5.     When  twenty-three  years  of  age,  in  1739,  he 
emigrated  to  America.     He  first  settled  near  Amwell,  New  Jer- 
sey.    Here  he  was  baptized  in  1739,  by  John  Naas,  who  was  pre- 
siding    elder    at     that     time. 
Soon  after  he  was  chosen  to 
the  ministry,  and  in  1750  he 
moved  to  Northkill.     In  1757 
he  was  ordained  to  the  elder- 
ship in  this  church  by  Elders 
Michael    Pfautz    and    Martin 
Urner.      In  his    official    rela- 
tion he  seemed  to  be  faithful 
during  a  long  and  useful  life. 
His    descendants    are    now 
scattered    over  a    number    of 
states,   many   still   holding  to 
the  Tunker  faith,  and  a  num- 
ber are   in  the   ministry. 

ELDER    HENRY    KOONTZ. 

Henry  Koontz  was  born  in 
the  Grossnickle  Valley,  Fred- 
erick County,  Maryland,  April 
20,  1797.  He  was  a  son  of 
Jacob  Koontz,  and  a  grandson  of  Michael  Koontz,  well-known  res- 
ident of  Frederick  County,  Maryland.  He  was  married  to  Julia 
Ann  Whisman,  December  2,  1819.  In  his  younger  years  he  was  a 
class  leader  and  local  minister  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
About  the  year  1839  he  united  with  the  Tunkers,  and  in  October. 
1840,  he  was  elected  to  the  ministry.  For  a  while  he  resided  at 
Burkittsville,  Frederick  County,  Maryland.  From  there  he  moved 
to  Boonesboro,  Washington  County,  Maryland.  About  the  year 
1855  he  moved  to  Mapleville,  same  county,  in  the  Beaver  Creek 
church. 


ELDER    HENRY    KOONTZ 


350  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

In  May  or  June,  1858,  he  was  ordained  to  the  bishopric  of  said 
church,  to  succeed  the  late  Elder  Daniel  Reichard,  who  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  present  Sunday-school  system.  Some 
years  later  Elder  Koontz  moved  into  the  Antietam  church,  Frank- 
lin County,  Pennsylvania,  locating  near  the  town  of  Waynes- 
boro. He  died  at  this  place  February  24,  1882,  aged  eighty-four 
years   ten  months   and  four  days. 

Elder  Koontz  was  one  of  the  ablest  ministers  in  the  Brethren 
Church  during  the  time  he  served  it.  He  traveled  much  among 
the  churches  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
frequently  a  member  of  the  standing  committee  at  annual  con- 
ference, and  was  often  sent  by  annual  meeting,  on  committees  by 
that  body,  to  assist  in  settling  difficulties  in  the  churches.  He  was 
a  good  writer,  and  frequently  contributed  to  the  Gospel  Visitor. 
His  articles  in  this  magazine  were  highly  appreciated  by  its  read- 
ers. His  education  was  altogether  in  the  English  language,  and 
it  is  doubtful  whether  he  could  understand  a  word  of  German, 
although  he  often  preached  in  German  communities,  where  at  least 
some  of  the  congregation  could  understand  him.  His  ancestors 
came  from  Ireland.      (Portrait  No.  29.)  d.  h.  f. 

ELDER    HENRY     KURTZ. 

Elder  Henry  Kurtz  was  born  in  Bunnigheim,  Germany,  July 
22,  1796.  His  father  was  engaged  in  teaching,  and  young  Henry, 
inclining  toward  the  same  profession,  received  a  fair  education, 
including  some  knowledge  of  the  dead  languages.  In  181 7  he 
emigrated  to  America,  and  engaged  in  teaching.  In  the  mean- 
time he  prepared  himself  for  the  ministry  ,and  was  received  into 
the  synod  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  June  10,  1 819.  He  entered 
upon  his  charge  August  8,  18 19,  in  Northampton  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, where  he  became  acquainted  with  Anna  Catharine  Loehr, 
to  whom  he  was  married  in  1820.  In  1823  he  left  this  charge, 
and  removed  to  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  resided  until 
1826,  when  he  settled  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  and  in  the 
spring  following  removed  to  Stark  County,  same  state. 

While  in  Pittsburg  he  became  troubled  in  mind  concerning  the 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  35 1 

validity  of  some  of  the  church  ordinances,  especially  that  of  infant 
baptism,  but  still  continued  preaching  for  his  people  until  he  felt 
himself  compelled  publicly  to  avow  his  sentiments  and  disclose 
his  convictions.  What  hastened  this  step  was  the  fact  that  he 
was  called  by  the  parents  of  a  family  and  members  of  his  church 
to  baptize  their  children.  In  company  with  an  elder,  he  repaired 
to  the  home  of  this  family,  and  found  some  of  the  children  old 
enough  to  be  instructed.  This  he  at  once  undertook  to  do,  but 
while  he  was  engaged  with  one,  the  others  would  stroll  away, 
and  he  found  this  task  a  difficult  one,  as  the  children  could  not 
be  kept  together,  so  that  the  elder  remarked,  "Es  hat  bald  noth  das 
man  den  hund  hat  fner  sic  bei  holen."  (It  is  almost  necessary  to 
have  a  dog  to  bring  them  together.)  Finally  he  made  known  his 
convictions  to  the  church,  and,  as  might  be  expected,  it  created 
no  small  stir.  One  council  after  another  was  held,  in  which  a 
difference  of  opinion  prevailed  at  to  whether  he  should  be  excom- 
municated or  not,  but  finally  the  decision  was  rendered  against 
him.  Being  thrown  out  of  employment,  he  met  with  some 
difficulty  to  support  his  family. 

Before  moving  to  Stark  County  he  had  heard  of  Tunkers  living 
there,  and  perhaps  had  visited  them  once,  and  soon  after  locating 
in  this  county  he  united  with  the  church.  He  was  baptized 
April  6,  1828,  and  placed  in  the  ministry  in  1830.  As  a  means 
to  support  his  family,  he  resorted  to  printing  and  publishing. 
In  December,  1838,  he  returned  to  Europe,  where  he  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  his  parents  and  one  sister  once  more.  One 
object  of  his  visit  was  to  become  acquainted  with  the  various 
religious  denominations,  and  to  preach  the  Word  where  there 
was  an  open  door.  During  his  journey  he  visited  Switzerland, 
and  on  the  14th  and  15th  of  April,  1839,  he  baptized  nine  persons, 
several  of  whom  afterwards  emigrated  to  America.  Returning  to 
this  country  in  July,  1839,  he  remained  in  Stark  County  until 
1842,  when  he  was  called  to  settle  in  the  Mill  Creek  church, 
Mahoning  County  (now  Mahoning  church),  in  which  he  was 
ordained  an  elder  in  1844,  and  had  the  care  of  this  congregation 
for  more  than  thirty  years.     In  1851  he  commenced  the  publica- 


352  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

tion  of  the  Monthly  Gospel  Visitor,  which  he  continued  until  a 
few  years  before  his  death,  which  took  place  January  12,  1874. 

Elder  Kurtz  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  German  Baptist 
Church,  and  labored  zealously  for  unity  of  form  and  practice 
among  its  members.  In  the  general  council  of  the  brotherhood 
he  ever  held  a  prominent  position  as  a  member  of  the  standing 
committee,  and  often  as  clerk  of  the  meeting. 

I  was  personally  and  well  acquainted  with  Brother  Kurtz,  hav- 
ing learned  the  art  preservative  under  his  tutelage,  and  lived  in 
his  family  for  six  months  or  more.  He  then  lived  on  a  farm  five 
miles  from  Poland,  Mahoning  County,  Ohio.  The  office  was  in 
the  spring-house  loft,  a  short  distance  below  the  dwelling.  The 
location  was  as  undesirable  a  spot  for  residence  or  business, 
other  than  farming,  as  could  well  be  found.  It  was  low,  foggy, 
and  boggy,  in  that  part  of  the  state  designated  as  the  Western 
Reserve.  Of  course  the  place  had  not  been  selected  as  a  business 
location ;  that  part  was  accidental,  pure  and  simple.  Elder  Kurtz 
had  selected  the  place  with  the  double  view  of  making  a  home  for 
his  family,  and  furnishing  employment  for  his  four  sons,  all  of 
whom  had  attained  to  manhood  when  I  went  to  live  in  the  family, 
in  the  autumn  of  1856.  Paul,  the  eldest  son,  was  then  married, 
and  lived  in  Elkhart  County,  Indiana.  George  was  the  farmer, 
and  Jacob  and  Henry  were  printers.  Brother  Kurtz  was  editor, 
proprietor,  foreman,  proofreader,  and  general  manager.  Elder 
James  Quinter  was  nominal  associate  editor,  and  moved  into  the 
neighborhood  the  same  year.  He  was  a  valuable  acquisition  to 
the  office  in  the  way  of  furnishing  copy,  which  was  about  the 
extent  of  his  knowledge  of  the  printing  business  up  to  that  time. 

Referring  to  his  trials,  Brother  Kurtz  said,  in  the  Gospel  Visitor 
for  June,  1853 :  "The  other  dark  cloud  hung  for  a  while  threat- 
ening over  the  Gospel  Visitor  and  its  humble  editor.  In  fact, 
he  has  been  under  a  cloud  this  long  time.  For  more  than  fifteen 
years  he  has  been  clerk  of  the  yearly  meeting,  and  many  of  his 
dear  brethren  know  him  only  from  occasionally  seeing  him  acting 
in  that  capacity,  being  overwhelmed  with  business,  and  constantly, 
in  and  out  of  meeting,  harassed,  urged,  and  pressed  on  every  side. 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  353 

Thus  circumstanced,  embarrassed,  not  being  able  to  speak  when 
he  ought  to  speak,  nor  to  be  silent  when  silence  would  be  best,  he 
stands  before  many  of  his  brethren  in  an  unfavorable  light, — in 
a  cloud.  But,  thanks  be  to  God,  the  cloud  has  been  lifted  up,  the 
yearly  meeting  has  again  declared  that  it  is  none  of  its  business  to 
interfere  with  the  private  affairs  of  members,  and  the  Gospel  Vis- 
itor may  continue  its  course,  if  not  rejoicing,  at  least  unmolested, 
yea,  with  fear  and  trembling." 

Elder  Henry  Kurtz  was  a  German  of  the  Teutonic  caste.  Any- 
thing that  was  not  purely  German  might  pass,  but  could  not  be 
set  down  as  first-class.  I  was  selected  as  apprentice  from  a  long 
list  of  applicants,  because  I  was  of  "German  extract,"  and  could 
speak  and  read  the  language.  Most  of  the  editorials  were  writ- 
ten in  German,  and  were  translated  into  the  English  for  the  Vis- 
itor. He  was  an  excellent  German  reader,  and  eloquent  in  prayer 
in  his  mother  tongue,  but  hesitated  and  almost  stammered  in 
English.  He  was  very  religious  in  his  forms,  and  held  family 
worship  every  evening,  and  frequently  in  the  morning,  also. 
Under  his  charge  I  learned  to  exercise  in  prayer.  Sister  Kurtz 
would  repeat  the  Lord's  Prayer,  but  never  attempted  anything 
farther,  and  it  was  to  relieve  her  that  I  made  my  first  attempt. 
His  favorite  morning  hymn  began  thus,  quoting  from  memory : — 

"Wach  auf  mein  Hertz  und  singe, 
Dem  Schaepfer  aller  Dinge: 
Dem  Geber  aller  Gueter, 
Dem  frommen  Menchen  Hueter. 

"Heunt  als  die  dunkeln  Schatten, 
Mich  ganz  umgeben  hatten, 
Hat  Satan  mein  begehret, 
Gott  aber  Hat's  gewehret." 

The  melody  was  peculiar,  and,  of  course,  also  German. 
Brother  Kurtz  was  quite  a  musician,  vocal  and  instrumental,  and 
had  an  organ  in  the  house,  but  rarely  used  it.  I  shall  long  remem- 
ber one  occasion  on  which  I  heard  him  perform  and  sing  one  of 
his  favorites.  I  went  to  the  house,  where  the  editorial  sanctum 
was,  on  business  connected  with  the  office.     After  'entering  the 

23 


354  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

hall,  I  heard  music,  and,  finding  the  door  ajar,  I  stopped  and  lis- 
tened till  the  hymn  was  completed,  much  delighted  with  the 
strains.  When  I  complimented  him  on  his  success,  he  explained 
that  he  had  been  tired  of  reading  and  writing,  and  had  sought 
recreation  and  solace  in  the  music.  I  prevailed  on  him  to  play 
and  sing  another  piece  for  my  gratification,  which  is  the  only 
occasion  I  remember  that  I  was  with  him  when  the  inspiration 
was  upon  him. 

There  was  one  German  habit  that  Brother  Kurtz  had  con- 
tracted which  was  a  painful  thorn  in  his  flesh  in  his  declining 
years.  It  was  the  tobacco  habit.  According  to  the  flesh,  he 
dearly  loved  his  pipe,  but  he  groaned  in  spirit  to  be  relieved  of  the 
slavish  bonds  it  had  woven  into  his  nature.  And  his  experience 
furnished  me  with  my  strongest  anti-tobacco  sentiment.  Poor 
old  man !  I  would  gladly  have  granted  him  full  absolution,  but 
his  conscience  would  not.  It  was  sad,  and  yet  it  was  amusing  to 
witness  the  pranks  resorted  to  by  this  good  man  of  mighty  intel- 
lect and  finished  education.  After  dissipating  with  his  pipe  until 
dyspepsia  and  conscience  came  to  his  rescue,  he  would  take  the 
instrument  of  his  torture  to  his  wife,  with  the  instruction,  "Now, 
gib  mir  sic  niwwiermehr."  From  the  tone  of  her  reply  I'm  very  cer- 
tain that  she  had  received  the  same  instructions  before.  Her  reply 
was,  "Es  Doart  nicht  lang"  and  she  knew  what  she  was  saying. 
Perhaps  he  held  out  faithfully  a  whole  week,  and  sometimes  pos- 
sibly longer.  The  first  time  he  went  to  the  kitchen,  he  feigned 
sociability  and  business,  and  returned  to  his  room  without  any 
farther  advancement,  to  continue  the  warfare  with  the  giant 
habit.  After  battling  a  day  or  two  longer,  he  went  again, 
ostensibly  upon  marital  duties,  but,  in  fact,  with  a  view  to  the 
gratification  of  the  baser  passion.  The  mistake  which  he  would 
invariably  make  before  he  was  overcome  would  be  in  overdoing 
himself  by  unnatural  smiles  and  courtesy.  In  this  case  he  was 
told  where  he  could  find  his  old  pipe,  and  he  went  his  way  rejoic- 
ing, although  defeated  and  humbled. 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  355 

ELDER     JOHN     LAWYER. 

Elder  John  Lawver  was  the  first  Tunker  minister  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Lena,  Stephenson  County,  Illinois.  He  was  a  man  of 
much  ability  as  a  minister,  and  stood  high  in  the  community  for 
his  Christian  character.  He  removed  from  Union  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, to  Stephenson  County,  Illinois,  in  the  spring  of  1846, 
where  he  died  August  8,  1851,  aged  sixty-eight  years  eight 
months. 

His  wife  died  several  years  later,  and  both  were  buried  at 
the  Waddam's  Grove  church. 

ELDER   C.   G.   LINT. 

Conrad  G.  Lint  was  born  May  2,  1834,  at  Meyers'  Mills,  now 
Meyersdale,  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania.  His  father  was 
Gillian  C.  Lint,  who  was  a  blacksmith  and  a  mechanic  of  some 
prominence  in  the  community.  Conrad  learned  the  trade  in  his 
father's  shop.  So  had  P.  J.  Brown  some  years  previous.  Con- 
rad also  learned  what  was  taught  in  the  common  schools  of  his 
day. 

When  yet  quite  young  he  was  married  to  Miss  Catharine 
Flickinger,  daughter  of  Brother  Samuel  Flickinger,  a  wealthy 
and  influential  citizen  of  Somerset  County. 

Sister  Lint  proved  to  be  a  valuable  helpmate  to  her  husband. 
She  had  the  esteem  of  the  Christian  people  of  the  entire 
neighborhood. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  he  joined  the  German  Baptist  Church, 
and  on  the  same  day  on  which  he  was  baptized  he  was  elected  to 
the  office  of  deacon,  and  one  week  later  he  was  advanced  to  the 
first  degree  of  the  ministry.  He  thereupon  quit  the  smithing 
business,  and  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the  ministry,  reading 
many  books,  and  applying  himself  diligently  to  the  preparation 
for  his  duties. 

This  close  application  to  his  studies  soon  exhibited  marked 
improvements,  and  in  a  few  years  Brother  Lint  became  one  of 
the    ablest    and    most    popular    Tunker    preachers    in    Somerset 


356  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

County.  He  was  ordained  to  the  eldership  in  1867,  and  from 
that  on  took  the  name  of  Bishop  Lint.  (See  portrait  13, 
group  2.) 

JACOB    M.    LICHTY. 

Jacob  M.  Lichty  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania, 
April  26,  1832.  He  was  a  son  of  Daniel  Lichty,  and  was  raised 
on  the  farm  on  which  he  died,  near  Mechanicsburg  church.  He 
was  married  December  29,  1859,  to  Susannah,  daughter  of  Elder 
David  Livengood.  He  was  a  progressive  member  of  the  Ger- 
man Baptist  Church,  a  kind  neighbor,  and  a  good  citizen.  His 
death  occurred  December  24,  1900. 

ELDER     JONAS   A.    LICHTY. 

Jonas  A.  Lichty  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania, 
September  25,  1830.  He  was  a  son  of  John  C.  Lichty.  He 
and  Mary  Miller  were  married  at  Meyers'  Mills,  December  1, 
185 1.  I  have  no  data  relating  to  his  baptism,  call  to  the  minis- 
try, or  ordination.  However,  I  know  he  was  a  worthy  mem- 
ber of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  and  a  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel previous  to  1870,  and  was  ordained  to  the  eldership  several 
years  later.  Elder  Lichty  spent  his  best  days  in  Somerset 
County,  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  decline  of  life  he  moved  to 
Waterloo,  Iowa,  where  he  died  in  1893,  loved  by  his  family  and 
honored  by  all  good  men. 

ELDER     MICHAEL     LYON. 

Michael  Lyon,  of  Hudson,  Illinois,  was  born  in  Maryland, 
September  25,  1793.  During  his  earlier  years  he  taught  school 
in  West  Virginia.  He  often  met  those  who  had  received 
instructions  from  him  in  their  childhood,  and  who  had  still 
cherished  the  warmest  affection  for  their  teacher  of  long  ago. 
In  early  life  he  united  with  the  Tunkers,  and  while  yet  a  youmg 
man,  entered  the  ministry,  in  which  he  distinguished  himself  as 
an  evangelist,  traveling  through  the  mountains  and  preaching 
extensively.  In  181 6  he  married  Louisa  Stingly,  who  died  in 
1863.     In   J865  he  came  west.     He  was  the  father  of  a  large 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  357 

family,  all  belonging  to  the  same  church.  He  was  an  exten- 
sive reader,  and  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life,  except  two,  were 
improved  in  studying  the  prophecies,  in  which  he  found  great 
comfort.  He  was  a  model  of  patience,  never  known  to  murmur 
or  complain,  and  he  had  unwavering  faith  in  God's  promises, 
which  were  fresh  in  his  mind  to  the  last.  He  passed  away 
quietly  on  March  II,  1880,  aged  eighty-six  years  five  months 
and  sixteen  days. 

ELDER     THOMAS   B.    MADDOCKS. 

Thomas  B.  Haddocks  was  born  at  Mackworth,  Derbyshire, 
England,  March  27,  1834.  He  came  to  America  March  8,  1852. 
I  first  met  him  in  the  summer  of  1855,  and  was  favorably 
impressed  with  the  young  man  because  of  his  sociability,  and 
persuaded  him  to  visit  our  home.  He  did  so,  and  engaged  to 
teach  the  Clover  Creek  school  during  the  winter  of  1855.  He 
soon  espoused  the  Tunker  faith,  and  was  baptized  in  March, 
1856,  by  Elder  Daniel  M.  Holsinger.  Soon  afterward  he  mar- 
ried Lydia,  daughter  of  Elder  George  Brumbaugh.  He  was 
elected  to  the  ministry  December  25,  1868,  advanced  December 
25,  1872,  and  ordained  August  11,  1894.     (Portrait  92,  group  9.) 

ALEXANDER     MACK,     JR. 

Alexander  Mack,  Jr.,  was  the  son  of  Alexander  and  Anna 
Margaretta  Mack.  He  was  born  in  Witgenstein,  Germany,  Jan- 
uary 28.  a.  d.  1 712.  He  was  baptized,  and  became  a  member  of 
the  mother  church  at  Schwarzenau,  in  1728,  when  but  sixteen 
years  of  age.  He  came  to  America,  with  his  parents,  in  the 
autumn  of  1728,  and  he  was  called  to  the  ministry  June  1,  1748. 
On  the  10th  of  June,  1753,  he  was  advanced  to  the  office  of 
bishop,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  and  the  care  of  the  church  at 
Germantown  was  publicly  given  him. 

On  January  1,  1749,  he  married  Elizabeth  Nice,  of  German- 
town,  by  whom  he  had  one  son,  William,  and  five  daughters. 
Their  names  were  Sarah  Margaretha,  Hannah,  Lydia,  Elizabeth, 
and  Anna  Margaretha.     Sarah  Margaretha  married  Jacob  Zieg- 


358  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ler;  Hannah,  Adam  Weber;  Lydia,  Dilman  Kolb,  and  afterward 
Jacob  Lentz;  Anna  Margaretha,  Emanuel  Fox,  the  father  of 
Elder  John  Fox,  of  Philadelphia.  These  raised  him  a  great 
number  of  giand  and  great-grandchildren,  who  were  dispersed 
through  different  states  of  the  Union.     Elizabeth  died  young. 

As  to  character,  he  is  represented  as  a  sincere,  good  man, 
much  given  to  retirement.  By  occupation,  he  was  a  stocking 
weaver.  His  worldly  possessions  were  but  small,  his  wants  few, 
which  made  his  contentment  quite  complete. 

In  his  preaching  it  is  said  he  did  not  manifest  much  oratory, 
but  with  the  pen  he  was  very  ready  and  fluent.  He  had  a  special 
talent  for  poetry,  as  many  hundreds  of  his  verses  and  poetic 
stanzas  still  prove.  A  remarkable  degree  of  sagacity  and  dis- 
cernment was  his,  so  that  no  art  could  ensnare  him,  nor  hypocrisy 
beguile  him.  He  died  on  the  20th  of  March,  1803,  aged  ninety- 
one  years  one  month  and  twenty  days. 

During  his  brief  sickness  he  was  visited  by  a  number  of  his 
fellow-laborers,  whom  he  very  feelingly  admonished  to  be  faith- 
ful in  the  discharge  of  their  various  duties,  and  he  grieved  over 
the  several  deviations  which  were  creeping  into  use,  especially 
in  that  of  feet-washing,  which  distressed  him  so  much  that  he 
charged  them,  with  his  last  expiring  breath,  to  be  faithful  to  the 
pattern  which  Christ  gave  us.  His  last  words  were,  "Nan  reisz 
ich  gegen  M  or  gen,  wer  mit  will  dor  mache  sick  eilends  fertig:"' 
"Nov/  journey  I  toward  the  morning;  who  will  accompany,  let 
him  prepare  himself  hastily." 

Although  he  was  as  well  as  usual,  he  had  a  strange  presenti- 
ment of  the  nearness  of  his  dissolution,  and  he  therefore  com- 
posed the  following  epitaph  for  his  tombstone.  This  he  gave  to 
his  daughter,  Anna  Fox,  telling  her  that  his  departure  was  at 
hand  now,  and  that  this  was  his  last  visit  to  her.  So  it  proved  to 
be.  The  epitaph,  in  the  following  words,  was  placed  on  his  tomb- 
stone  in   the    Brethren's    gravevard,    in    Germantown,    Pennsyl- 


vania 


'Gott,  der  uns  hat  aus  staub  gemacht, 
Und  weiderum  Zu  staub  gfebracht, 
Wird  Zeugen  seiner  Weisheit-macht, 
Wan  wir  nach  seinem  bild  erwacht." 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  359 

God,  He  who  us  of  dust  did  make, 
And  unto  dust  again  did  bring, 
Will  show  His  might  for  wisdom's  sake, 
When  in  His  likeness  we  awake. 

ALEXANDER     MACK,     SR. 

Brother  Mack  was  born  in  a.  d.  1679,  at  Schreisheim,  Ger- 
many. He  was  educated  a  Calvinist,  and  by  occupation  he  was 
a  miller.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Brethren  Church, 
in  A.  d.  1708,  and  he  came  to  this  country,  with  a  number  of  his 
congregation,  in  1729.  The  same  year  he  became  a  minister  of 
the  Beggarstown  church.  On  January  18,  a.  d.  1735,  he  died, 
and  he  was  buried  in  the  public  cemetery  at  Germantown. 

He  was  married  to  Anna  Margaretta  Kling.  They  had  four 
children,  namely,  Valentine,  John,  Alexander,  and  Anna.  Val- 
entine married  into  the  Hildebrand  family,  John  into  the 
Schneider  family,  and  Alexander,  into  the  Nice  family.  Anna, 
their  fourth  child,  for  different  reasons,  took  a  voluntary  vow  of 
perpetual  celibacy,  and  became  an  inmate  of  the  sisters'  convent 
at  Ephratah,  Pennsylvania. 

Elder  Mack  was  a  man  of  extensive  education  and  deep  piety, 
and  he  had  formed  a  firm,  unchanging  resolution  to  serve  God 
faithfully,  whatever  he  might  be  called  upon  to  lose  or  suffer. 
He  had  a  handsome  patrimony  at  Schreisheim,  Germany,  also  a 
very  profitable  mill,  and  several  vineyards ;  however,  he  suffered 
the  loss  of  all  in  building  up  and  maintaining  the  church,  amidst 
his  persecutions  at  Schwarzenau.  He  was  succeeded  by  his 
youngest  son. 

SARAH     RIGHTER     MAJOR. 

Sarah  Righter  was  born  in  Philadelphia  County,  Pennsylvania, 
August  29,  1808.  Her  father,  John  Righter,  was  a  Tunker 
preacher,  of  the  Philadelphia  church.  He  had  but  two  children, 
Sarah  and  Mary. 

Sarah  was  brought  under  conviction  through  the  ministry  of 
Harriet  Livermore,  a  lady  preacher  of  wide  reputation  in  her 
day.     She  preached  in  the  Tunker  Churches  in  Germantown  and 


360  lil STORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Philadelphia,  and  Sarah  Righter  attended  the  service,  and  was 
converted  and  joined  the  Tunker  Church  in  her  eighteenth  year. 
Soon  after  her  conversion  she  felt  that  she  was  called  by  the  Lord 
to  preach.  For  some  time  she  suppressed  those  feelings,  but  suf- 
fered much  distress  of  mind  for  her  disobedience  to  the  heavenly 
calling.  She  realized  the  great  responsibility  of  such  a  calling, 
and  with  womanly  timidity  she  shrank  from  assuming  its  duties. 
Her  family  and  intimate  friends  observed  her  distress,  but  did 
not  know  the  cause  of  it.  Her  father  observed  her  trouble,  and 
pressed  her  to  reveal  to  him  the  cause  of  her  distress.  Having 
learned  it,  he  interviewed  Elder  Peter  Keyser,  pastor  of  the  Phil- 
adelphia church,  and  acquainted  him  with  the  circumstances. 
He  sympathized  with  the  young  woman,  and  encouraged  her  to 
take  up  the  cross,  but  all  the  members  of  the  Philadelphia  church 
did  not  take  the  same  view  of  the  case  as  did  the  pastor.  In  fact, 
some  were  strongly  opposed  to  women  preaching,  and  some 
trouble  arose  in  the  church,  thus  throwing  new  trouble  in  the  way 
of  the  young  herald  of  the  cross.  However,  she  began  her  pub- 
lic ministry  in  a  very  humble  manner  in  her  home  congregation. 
Elder  Israel  Poulson,  of  Amwell,  New  Jersey,  was  also  one  of  her 
admirers,  and  encouraged  her  by  inviting  her  to  occupy  his  pul- 
pit. His  congregation  was  the  first  place  she  preached  outside 
of  Philadelphia. 

Sister  Righter  had  great  influence  over  her  audiences,  and  when 
she  became  deeply  interested  in  her  subject,  she  grew  eloquent. 
Her  appeals  were  especially  effectual  to  those  of  her  own  sex. 

Notwithstanding  the  strong  prejudice  against  women  preach- 
ing which  existed  in  the  brotherhood,  Sister  Righters  extreme 
modesty  and  her  exemplary  life  subdued  much  of  it,  wherever 
she  was  once  permitted  to  preach;  and  one  of  her  biographers 
says,  "Some  brethren  went  to  hear  her  preach,  with  considerable 
prejudice,  but  when  they  had  heard  her,  that  feeling  was  greatly 
diminished,  if  not  altogether  removed."  That  remark  suits  my 
own  case  very  well.  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  sharing  the  Phil- 
adelphia pulpit  of  the  Tunker  Church  some  time  during  the  six- 
ties of  the  nineteenth  centurv   with   Sister   Major.     It   was  my 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  36 1 

turn  to  preach  in  the  forenoon,  and  I  confess  guilty  of  a  feeling 
closely  akin  to  humiliation,  at  the  thought  of  being  in  the  same 
stand  with  a  woman  preacher.  In  the  evening  Sister  Major 
preached,  and  I  now  humbly  acknowledge  that  I  was  very  much 
ashamed  of  myself  and  of  my  effort,  but  most  of  all  was  I  dis- 
satisfied with  myself  because  of  the  prejudice  confessed  to  above, 
but  which  I  am  thankful  to  have  the  assurance  I  had  carefully 
concealed.  She  preached  an  excellent  sermon.  Her  style  was 
simple,  her  manner  perfect,  and  every  gesture  in  place. 

At  the  Sunday-school  she  was  called  on  to  address  the  chil- 
dren. The  Sunday-school  was  held  in  the  gallery.  Sister  Major 
arose,  and  walked  around  the  pulpit  opening  in  the  floor  of  the 
gallery,  to  a  point  opposite  the  writer.  She  stood  for  a  moment, 
looking  about  as  if  to  decide  as  to  whether  she  was  occupying  the 
proper  spot,  when  she  said,  "Years  ago  to-day,  at  this  very  hour 
of  the  day,  I  stood  in  this  same  spot ;  I  was  converted  to  Christ, 
and  felt  the  assurance  of  my  sins  forgiven,"  or  words  to  that 
effect,  as  I  am  quoting  from  memory,  after  a  lapse  of  thirty  odd 
years. 

Sarah  Righter  and  Thomas  Major  were  married  March  10, 
1842,  by  Elder  Peter  Keyser.  Major  was  also  a  minister  in  the 
Tunker  Church.  He  was  born  September  19,  181 1,  and  died 
April  17,  1888.  They  raised  three  chlidren,  neither  of  whom 
belonged  to  the  Tunker  fraternity. 

Sister  Major  was  never  licensed  to  preach,  nor  even  authorized 
to  do  so  by  any  congregation  of  her  people.  She  was  simply 
tolerated  or  permitted  to  preach  in  certain  congregations.  She 
died  September  18,  1884,  at  their  home  in  Highland  County, 
Ohio,  aged  seventy-six  years  and  nineteen  days. 

ELDER    JOHN   METZGER. 

Elder  John  Metzger  was  born  in  Blair,  then  Huntingdon 
County,  Pennsylvania,  December  20,  1807. 

When  about  eight  years  old  his  parents  moved  to  Montgomery 
County,  Ohio,  where,  on  Easter  Sunday  of  1828,  he  was  married 
to  Miss  Hannah  Ullery.     To  them  were  born  five  children,  J.  W. 


362  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Metzger  and  Mary  Kuns,  of  California ;  Catharine  Shively  and 
Barbara  Shively,  of  Cerro  Gordo. 

In  1834,  he  moved  to  Tippecanoe  County,  Indiana;  in  1849,  to 
Clinton  County,  Indiana;  in  1864,  to  Macon  County,  Illinois;  in 
1867,  to  Piatt  County,  Illinois;  and  in  August,  1881,  to  Cerro 
Gordo.  His  wife  died  May  31,  1887.  February  26,  1889,  he- 
was  married  to  Sister  Permelia  A.  Wolfe,  who  survives  him. 

In  January,  1890,  he  made  a  visit  to  southern  California, 
returning  in  March  following.  In  September  of  the  same  year 
he  went  to  Lordsburg,  California,  where  later  he  built  a  home. 
After  that  he  divided  his  time  between  his  two  homes,  making 
the  trip  back  and  forth  each  year.  Since  1890  he  made  the  trip 
across  the  plains  fourteen  times. 

In  early  life  he  united  with  the  Tunker  Church.  In  1835  he 
was  elected  to  the  ministry.  A  few  years  later  he  was  ordained 
to  the  eldership. 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  of  his  death,  he  appeared  unusually 
bright,  and  said  he  felt  well,  and  thought  he  would  go  to  his 
daughter's  for  dinner.  When  they  raised  him  up  to  eat  his 
breakfast,  he  said,  "Lay  me  down  ;  it  seems  as  if  the  house  was 
going  around ;"  and  in  about  twenty  minutes  all  was  over. 

He  died  May  25,  1896,  aged  eighty-eight  years  five  months  and 
five  days. 

The  Gospel  Messenger,  in  obituary  notice,  says  of  Brother 
Metzger :  "He  was  one  of  the  most  widely  known  preachers  in 
the  brotherhood,  and  in  his  day  did  as  much  preaching  as  any 
minister  among  us.  He  was  not  noted  for  either  learning  or  elo- 
quence, but  as  a  pure,  earnest  Christian  preacher  he  had  few 
equals.  He  was  loved  and  respected  wherever  he  was  known. 
He  was  the  means  of  leading  thousands  of  sinners  from  the 
error  of  their  way.  Few  men  among  us  have  done  more  baptiz- 
ing, and  solemnized  more  marriages,  and  preached  more  funerals. 
He  was  among  the  most  active  pioneer  preachers  of  the  west,  and 
generations  to  come  will  tell  of  the  good  he  has  done  as  a  minister 
of  the  gospel. 

His  first  wife  died  while  the  annual  meeting  was  in  session  at 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  363 

Ottawa,  Kansas.  He  afterwards  married  Sister  Wolfe,  the 
widow  of  Elder  David  Wolfe,  son  of  the  noted  Elder  George 
Wolfe,  of  the  "Far  Western  Brethren"  fame.  He  was  on  inti- 
mate terms  with  most  if  not  all  of  the  pioneer  preachers  of  the 
brotherhood  in  the  west  for  nearly  two  generations.  He  was  an 
honor  to  our  people,  and  goes  to  his  grave  mourned  by  thousands 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

Elder  Metzger  was  a  very  kind-hearted  man,  and  I  learned  to 
love  him  after  becoming  personally  acquainted  with  him.  In  the 
summer  of  1894  he  paid  us  a  visit  at  our  home  at  Rosena,  Cali- 
fornia, where  we  enjoyed  a  very  pleasant  interview,  recounting 
our  experiences  and  associations.  He  took  a  special  interest  in 
referring  to  our  own  work  at  the  Ashland  annual  meeting,  of 
1 881,  when  we  stood  side  by  side  conducting  the  collection  for 
the  Danish  mission.  If  all  the  elderly  Tunker  preachers  had  been 
of  the  same  spirit  and  disposition  as  Elder  John  Metzger,  there 
would  now  be  no  schism  in  the  fraternity. 

JACOB     MILLER. 

Brother  Jacob  Miller  was  born  February  18,  1828.  His  brief 
existence  deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice,  although  he  had 
no  title  to  indicate  notability.  Yet  such  was  his  short  career  that 
I  feel  justified  in  saying  his  would  have  been  "one  of  the  few 
immortal  names  that  was  not  born  to  die." 

This  Jacob  Miller  is  entitled  to  the  distinction  of  a  pioneer 
Tunker  educator,  and  had  he  lived,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
would  have  been  preeminently  successful  in  his  calling;  but,  like 
Jacob  Zook,  another  pioneer  teacher,  he  was  cut  off  at  the  thres- 
hold of  his  usefulness.  In  the  Gospel  Visitor  of  July,  1853,  page 
34,  will  be  found  his  obituary  notice,  in  the  following  words : — 

''Departed  this  life  May  the  nth  last,  after  a  short  illness, 
Brother  Jacob  Miller,  of  Bedford  County,  Pennsylvania,  aged 
twenty-five  years  two  months  and  twenty-three  days." 

This  was  supplemented  by  the  following  editorial  remarks, 
Brother  Henry  Kurtz  being  editor  at  the  time : — 

"Though  young  in  years,  he  was,  according  to  the  testimony 


364  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

of  all  who  knew  him,  a  worthy  member,  and  highly  gifted, 
acceptable  minister  in  the  church,  and  we  may  be  allowed  to  add, 
an  able  and  useful  correspondent  for  the  Gospel  Visitor,  as  those 
articles  may  testify  which  came  from  his  pen."  See  Vol.  1,  page 
212,  the  article  headed  ''Rejoice  Evermore  ;  Vol.  2,  page  34,  "Ben- 
efits to  be  Enjoyed  by  Those  Who  Love  the  Saviour  and  Keep 
His  Word;"  page  247,  on  Hebrews  11:6. 

In  these  last  two  articles  he  had  distinguished  himself  under 
the  assumed  name  of  "Onesimus."  These  articles  will  make  our 
dear  brother,  with  whom  we  never  had  any  personal  acquaint- 
ance, better  known  to  all  our  readers  than  anything  we  can  add. 

We  also  copy  the  following  remarks  from  his  father,  in  con- 
nection with  the  notice  : — 

"My  dear  son  was  very  obedient  to  me  from  a  child.  In  early 
life  he  became  a  member  of  the  church,  and  about  one  year  after 
he  was  baptized  he  was  elected  to  the  ministry,  wherein  he  labored 
faithfully  while  living  and  in  health,  and  even  on  his  dying  bed. 
He  was  buried  May  13.  His  was  the  largest  funeral  we  ever  had 
in  our  neighborhood".  He  had  made  every  preparation  to  go  to 
the  yearly  meeting.  The  very  day  he  was  to  leave  home  for  that 
purpose,  he  went  into  eternity. 

"He  often  stood  by  my  side,  and  expounded  the  gospel  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  its  purity.  I"  attended  two  appointments 
since  his  death  in  our  congregation,  and,  oh,  how  he  was 
missed !  Andrew  Miller." 

Brother  Miller  received  his  intellectual  training  principally 
from  Professor  Harris,  a  strict,  old-style  Catholic  teacher,  at 
Bedford,  Pennsylvania.  He  taught  school  near  his  father's 
home,  in  the  winters  of  1849,  ^o,  and  1851.  In  the  summer  of 
1 85 1  his  great  uncle,  George  Buterbaugh,  of  Illinois,  offered  him 
great  inducements  to  come  west,  and  Jacob  had  already  made  sale 
of  his  personal  effects,  intending  to  go  west,  and  grow  up  with 
the  country,  but  his  father  took  it  so  hard  that  the  young  man's 
heart  failed  him,  and  he  relented.  This  incident  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  educational  work  of  the  church,  and  in  the  summer 
of  1852   he  put  up  a  building  for  school  purposes,  fifty  by  thirty- 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  365 

six  feet.  John  S.  Holsinger  was  the  architect  and  builder.  The 
same  building  was  also  used  for  church  purposes.  He  opened 
school  in  the  fall  of  1852,  and  was  very  successful  from  the  start. 
There  was  a  large  home  patronage,  and  a  number  of  students 
came  from  abroad  and  boarded  with  his  family.  Among  the 
students  from  a  distance  were  Jeremiah  Beeghley,  Nelson  Mey- 
ers, Lewis  S.  Keim,  Israel  Berkly,  Edward  S.  Miller,  William 
Snowdon,  Eli  Miller,  John  S.  Holsinger,  Joseph  Elder,  Jonas 
Flickinger,  John  B.  Furry,  and  others  whose  names  we  have  not 
been  able  to  secure. 

He  married  Miss  Eleanor  Arnold,  eldest  daughter  of  Peter  and 
Hannah  Arnold,  December  16,  1848.  They  both  joined  the  Tun- 
ker  Church  in  August,  1849,  being  baptized  by  Elder  James 
Quinter. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  author  of  this  work  that  he  was  a 
descendant  of  Elder  Peter  Miller,  of  colonial  reputation,  and  that 
the  foundation  of  the  work  in  Millikan's  Cove  was  laid  by  Elder 
George  Adam  Martin,  during  his  visits  to  the  Stony  Creek  set- 
tlement, in  Somerset  County. 

For  a  number  of  years,  dating  from  1850  to  i860,  or  later, 
Millikan's  Cove,  or  Will's  Creek  as  it  was  known  to  us,  was  a  mis- 
sion point,  and  was  supplied  by  the  Bedford  and  Somerset  County 
churches,  jointly.  Clover  Creek  congregation  took  her  turn,  and 
my  father,  Elder  Daniel  M.  Holsinger,  made  at  least  two  trips  to 
the  mission,  and  on  one  occasion  assisted  in  conducting  a  com- 
munion service.  I  can  not  tell  the  exact  location  where  the  com- 
munion was  held,  but  one  incident  I  remember  hearing  him  relate. 
The  family  at  whose  house  the  meeting  was  being  held,  had  not 
provided  any  meat  for  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  in  this  emergency 
they  killed  a  chicken,  which  supplied  both  meat  and  sop.  The 
narration  of  this  incident  was  indelibly  fixed  on  my  young  mind, 
as  my  father  related  it  with  all  the  gravity  of  a  sacred  dilemma. 

Brother  Miller's  effort  to  establish  a  school  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  young  people  of  the  church  was  undoubtedly  the  first 
movement  of  the  kind  in  the  history  of  the  denomination.  And, 
although  made  in  the  most  unpretending  manner,  it  would  have 


366  history   ob    THE   tunkers 

been  eminently  successful  if  his  life  had  been  spared,  but  he  died 
before  the  close  of  the  second  term. 

Brother  S.  B.  Furry  says  of  Brother  Miller  as  a  teacher  and 
preacher:  "He  taught  the  public  schools  at  New  Enterprise  in  the 
winter  of  1848.  He  was  ambitious,  bright,  and  sociable.  He 
revolutionized  the  system  of  teaching  then  in  vogue,  and  created 
among  the  students  a  wonderful  interest  in  education. 

"The  last  sermon  he  preached  at  Xew  Enterprise  was  from  the 
text,  'Cut  it  down;  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground?'  Luke  13:7. 
It  was  a  masterly  effort,  full  of  pathos,  warning,  and  persuasion. 
He  was  considered  kthe  boy  preacher,'  and  to  see  him  back  of  the 
long  table  beside  the  grave-looking  old  elders,  was  a  sight  seem- 
ingly odd— youthful,  smooth-faced,  sprightly,  and  beaming  with 
animation.  He  was  fluent  in  language,  pointed  in  logic,  and 
had  great  influence  over  the  young." 

Brother  Lewis  S.  Keim  writes  in  relation  to  Professor  Miller 
and  his  school:  "Forty-eight  years  ago  I  attended  the  school  at 
Buffalo  Mills,  Bedford  County,  Pennsylvania,  taught  by  Pro- 
fessor Jacob  Miller.  He  was  a  young  minister,  and  his  prospects 
were  of  a  high  grade ;  his  manners  were  fine ;  and  the  longer  we 
were  about  him  the  better  we  liked  him  as  a  teacher.  He  was  a 
Christian.  He  had  about  forty  scholars,  mostly  from  the 
neighborhood." 

ELDER     SAMUEL     MOHLER. 

Elder  Samuel  Mohjer  was  a  member  of  a  large  family,  who 
resided  in  Juniata  County,  Pennsylvania.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
he  was  married  to  Catharine  Sayler,  a  relative  of  Elder  D.  P. 
Sayler.  Soon  after  this  union,  they  journeyed  over  the  moun- 
tains to  one  of  the  Antietams,  near  Waynesborough,  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  they  united  with  the  church. 

Shortly  after  this  they  moved  to  Ohio,  and  located  near  Cov- 
ington.    In  this  vicinity  he  lived  about  sixty-two  years. 

There  were  born  unto  them  eight  sons  and  five  daughters.  In 
1891,  three  of  his  sons  were  ministers;  Samuel  S.,  of  Warrens- 
burg,  Mo. ;  Martin,  of  Cornelia,  Mo. ;  and  John  S.,  of  Morrill, 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  367 

Kansas.  Jacob  and  Levi  were  deacons  in  the  Covington  church, 
Ohio. 

In  1858  Brother  Mohler  was  elected  to  the  ministry,  with  his 
son,  Samuel  S.,  Elders  Peter  Need,  and  Abraham  Flory  officiat- 
ing. His  special  line  of  work  in  the  ministry  was  not  in  preach- 
ing, but  in  watching  the  general  interests  of  the  body,  keeping  the 
church  in  order.  In  this  line  Brother  Mohler  had  great  natural 
ability.  He  was  a  quick  observer,  and  rather  slow  in  rendering  a 
decision ;  but  when  his  decision  was  once  made,  his  mind  was  not 
easily  changed.  It  is  said  that  he  controlled  all  his  business  with 
great  order  and  system.  The  hours  to  commence  and  quit  work, 
and  the  hours  for  worship,  were  all  known  and  promptly  observed. 

His  manner  in  church  work  was  similar ;  everything  was  prompt 
to  the  time  announced.  His  success  in  raising  his  children,  so  that 
they  all  early  united  with  the  church,  aided  in  giving  force  to  his 
efforts  in  church  work.  His  long  years  in  the  vicinity  in  which  he 
lived  were  years  of  strict  honesty  and  unbending  integrity.  He  also 
had  an  open  hand  of  charity  to  all  in  want.  It  was  not  uncommon 
for  him,  on  the  Lord's  day,  to  take  up  a  public  collection  in 
response  to  a  letter  received  from  some  brother  who  had  lost  his 
crop  by  storm,  or  buildings  by  fire.  Brother  D.  L.  Miller  once 
remarked,  "If  all  our  elders  would  send  in  their  missionary  col- 
lections as  Brother  Samuel  Mohler  does,  our  treasury  would  be 
well  filled." 

There  was  something  peculiarly  striking  and  impressive  in  his 
person  and  appearance,  and  he  was  a  man  of  remarkable  vigor  of 
body  and  mind.  On  the  night  of  April  13,  1891,  when  trying  to 
walk  across  the  room  alone,  his  strength  failed  and  he  fell,  and 
in  the  fall  his  left  leg  was  broken.  The  limb  never  properly 
healed,  and  through  the  natural  decline  of  age  his  vigor  was 
reduced,  until,  on  the  morning  of  July  26,  he  passed  away,  aged 
eighty-three  years  two  months  and  seven  days. 

I  express  the  sentiment  of  many,  both  in  and  out  of  the  church, 
by  the  following  editorial  note  from  the  Covington  Gazette: 
"Probably  no  man  in  this  community  was  more  highly  respected. 
As  a  Christian  he  practiced  what  he  preached,  not  only  one  day 


368  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

in  the  week,  but  every  day  in  the  year.  His  counsel  was  always 
wise,  and  it  will  be  hard  for  the  German  Baptists  to  fill  the  place 
of  'Elder  Sammy,'  as  the  people  loved  to  call  him." 

ELDER    HIRAM     MUSSELMAN. 

Hiram  Musselman  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, June  5,  1837.  He  and  Christian  Musselman  were  brothers, 
and  their  father  died  when  they  were  quite  young.  Hiram  Mus- 
selman and  Frances  Yoder  were  married  in  1858,  and  both  united 
with  the  German  Baptist  Church  in  their  youth.  He  was  called 
to  the  ministry  about  1862,  and  at  once  became  a  persistent 
student  of  the  Bible.  Although  not  an  eloquent  speaker,  he  had 
great  influence  among  the  people.  He  was  a  faithful,  devoted 
servant  of  God,  abounding  in  sympathy  for  his  fellow-men.  Tic 
was  of  a  genial,  hospitable  disposition,  and  his  house  was  the 
home  of  traveling  ministers.  He  solemnized  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  marriages,  and  ministered  on  numerous  funeral  occasions, 
among  all  classes  of  people  and  denominations  of  Christians. 

By  industry  and  economy  he  accumulated  considerable  prop- 
erty, most  of  which  he  gave  to  his  church  and  other  charitable 
purposes.  He  died  on  Sunday,  December  9,  1900,  at  his  home 
at  Scalp  Level,  aged  seventy-three  years  six  months. 

ELDER     T.    T.    MEYERS. 

Elder  T.  T.  Meyers  was  born  March  29,  1865,  in  Somerset 
County,  Pennsylvania.  In  1876  his  parents  moved  to  Carroll 
County,  Illinois,  where  he  received  a  thorough  training  on  the 
farm.  He  was  called  to  the  ministry  in  the  Milledgeville  church, 
Illinois,  January  1,  1886.  After  attending  Mt.  Morris  College 
four  years,  he  was  called  to  the  Philadelphia  church,  in  the  spring 
of  1891,  and  has  continued  in  charge  to  the  present.  In  Phila- 
delphia he  took  a  course  in  the  National  School  of  Oratory,  and 
also  took  the  A.  B.  degree  from  Temple  College. 

In  1895  he  took  an  extended  tour  through  Europe  and  Pales- 
tine. At  present  he  is  taking  a  course  in  theology,  in  the  Crozer 
Theological  Seminary,  Upland,  Pennsylvania.     While  doing  this, 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  369 

C.  C.  Ellis    is    associate    pastor    in    the    church.      (Portrait    16, 
group  2.) 

JACOB     T.     MEYERS. 

Jacob  T.  Meyers,  a  son  of  Elder  Tobias  Meyers,  was  born  in 
Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  1857.  He  was  baptized  and 
received  into  fellowship  in  the  German  Baptist  Church  in  the 
Middle  Creek  congregation,  in  the  same  county.  He  was  stu- 
dious from  childhood,  and  fond  of  religious  reading  and  service, 
and  made  it  a  point  never  to  fail  to  fill  his  place  at  church,  unless 
prevented  by  sickness  or  foul  weather. 

He  was  called  to  the  ministry  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  and, 
in  order  to  prepare  himself  for  his  calling,  he  went  to  Phila- 
delphia in  the  spring  following  his  election  to  the  ministry,  and 
took  a  course  of  study,  at  the  same  time  preaching  for  the  church 
in  the  "City  of  Brotherly  Love."  He  remained  there  about  four 
years.  During  his  service  there  he  conducted  the  funerals  of  a 
number  of  the  venerable  of  that  noted  congregation. 

September  20,  1877,  he  married  Miss  Lydia  Belle  Quinter, 
daughter  of  Elder  James  Quinter.  They  were  married  in  the 
college  chapel  at  Huntingdon,  Pennsylvania,  by  Elder  Quinter. 

Immediately  after  their  marriage,  Brother  Meyers  took  charge 
of  the  Green  Tree  church,  "until  such  time  when  it  might  be 
mutually  agreeable  to  discontinue."  He  has  now  served  twenty- 
two  years,  and  it  is  still  mutually  agreeable  to  continue.  When 
he  took  charge,  the  church  numbered  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven ;  present  membership,  over  three  hundred,  mostly  young 
people.  He  has  two  services  each  Sunday.  (Portrait  14, 
group  2.) 

PROFESSOR     OSCAR     R.     MYERS. 

Professor  Oscar  R.  Myers  comes  from  the  "Keystone"  state. 
He  was  born  at  Lewistown,  April  16,  1873,  being  the  son  of 
George  S.  and  Susanna  Myers.  From  the  time  of  his  arrival  at 
the  school  age  until  the  fall  of  1889,  he  attended  the  public  school 
at  Lewistown,  and  worked  in  his  father's  lumber  establishment. 
He  then  came  to  Mount  Morris  College,  and  completed  a  business 
24 


370  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

course.  He  completed  the  preparatory  work,  and  graduated  with 
the  academic  class  of  1894,  but  continued  two  more  years  in  the 
seminary  department. 

In  1896  he  entered  the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor. 
After  two  years'  work  he  graduated  from  that  institution,  with 
the  class  of  1898,  receiving  the  degree  of  Ph.  B.  He  returned  to 
the  university  in  the  fall  of  1898,  and  in  the  spring  of  1899 
received  his  second  degree,  that  of  Master  of  Philosophy.  In 
the  fall  of  1899  he  became  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  his  alma 
mater,  and  soon  became  recognized  as  one  of  the  best. 

ELDER     GRABILL     MYERS. 

No  Tunker  preacher  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  attained  a 
wider  reputation  or  was  more  esteemed  in  the  hearts  of  his  peo- 
ple than  did  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Although  he  did  not  have 
a  good  education  as  school  men  would  have  it,  I  frequently  over- 
heard the  remark,  "Der  Mann  nuts  gute  lerning  haben:"  "That 
man  must  have  good  learning."  He  was  liberal  and  broad-minded 
for  his  generation  and  environments.  While  he  was  unswerving 
in  his  devotion  to  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  church,  he  was 
kind  and  respectful  toward  all  other  denominations.  This  fact 
was  confirmed  by  his  preaching  for  a  pastorless  Lutheran  con- 
gregation near  Williamsburg,  Blair  County,  for  a  term  of  three 
months,  at  a  salary  mutually  satisfactory  to  both  parties. 

Like  all  extemporaneous  speakers,  he  had  his  certain  line  of 
subjects.  He  used  to  tell  me,  "Sometimes  I  take  a  text  to  suit 
my  discourse,  and  at  other  times  I  choose  a  subject  to  suit  my 
text."  And  it  did  not  appear  to  make  much  difference  to  him 
or  his  hearers,  for  he  invariably  entertained  his  audience.  Among 
his  favorite  texts  were  the  following:  "Let  us  hear  the  conclusion 
of  the  whole  matter:  Fear  God,  and  keep  His  commandments." 
Eccl.  12:13.  "Behold,  to  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to 
harken  than  the  fat  of  rams.  For  rebellion  is  as  the  sin  of 
witchcraft,  and  stubbornness  is  as  iniquity  and  idolatry."  1  Sam. 
15:22,  23.  "And  they  gathered  themselves  together  against 
Moses  and  against  Aaron,  and  said  unto  them,  Ye  take  too  much 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  37  I 

upon  you,  seeing  all  the  congregation  are  holy,  every  one  of  them, 
and  the  Lord  is  among  them;  wherefore,  then,  lift  ye  up  your- 
selves above  the  congregation  of  the  Lord?"     Num.   16:  13. 

I  regret  very  much  that  I  can  not  give  my  readers  the  detailed 
account  of  the  life  of  this  truly  good  man.  It  is  remarkable,  too, 
that  only  one  or  two  of  his  children  followed  his  example,  and 
became  members  of  the  church.  His  daughter  Eliza,  intermarried 
with  Brother  John  Oyer,  was  a  noble  exception.  She  lived  and 
died  in  the  faith  of  the  Master. 

Brother  Myers  was  elder  of  the  Warrior's  Mark  congregation 
when  I  lived  at  Tyrone,  and  under  his  charge  I  was  called  to  the 
ministry,  and  advanced  to  the  second  degree.  He  was  a  faithful 
bishop,  and  kept  in  view  the  development  of  his  flock.  A  few 
letters  from  his  pen  will  be  found  in  the  epistolary  department, 
which  will  indicate  his  sentiments  on  religious  subjects.  He 
died  at  his  home  near  Eldorado,  Blair  County,  Pennsvlvania. 
(Portrait  10,  group  2.) 

ELDER     ISAAC     MYERS. 

Elder  Isaac  Myers  was  one  of  the  younger  of  ten  brothers  and 
one  sister.  Isaac  and  David  and  their  only  sister,  Susannah, 
were  all  young  married  people  when  they  moved  from  Lancaster 
County  to  Union  County,  Pennsylvania,  about  one  hundred  miles 
from  Lancaster,  between  1825  and  1830.  Two  of  his  brothers 
settled  in  Clarion  County,  and  one,  George,  in  Hill  Valley,  Mifflin 
County.  George  was  the  father  of  Grabill,  Reuben,  Isaac,  Abra- 
ham, John,  Benjamin,  George,  and  Christian,  all  Tunker  preach- 
ers except  John  and  Benjamin.  John  is  the  father  of  Clara  Myers 
Flora,  of  Dallas  Center,  Iowa,  a  well-known  minister  in  the 
Brethren  Church.  Isaac  Myers  was  born  February  24,  1804,  and 
was  married  about  1829  to  Sally  Weidler,  also  of  Lancaster.  He 
spent  his  entire  lifetime  in  the  vicinity  of  Lewisburg,  Union 
County,  Pennsylvania.  His  address  for  the  last  tweny-five  years 
was  Mifflinburg.  There  he  joined  the  church,  served  for  some 
time  in  the  office  of  deacon,  and  was  called  to  the  ministry  about 
the  year  1840,  exact  dates  not  being  attainable.     He  served  quite 


372  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

acceptably  as  a  minister  for  about  ten  years,  when  he  and  John 
Sprogel  were  both  ordained  elders  at  the  same  time,  in  the  year 
1849,  John  Kline  and  another  Virginia  elder  officiating.  During 
the  joint  eldership  of  John  Sprogel  and  Isaac  Myers  the  church 
of  Buffalo  Valley  was  very  prosperous.  Sprogel  was  a  sweet- 
tongued  and  fluent  speaker,  and  a  persistent  visiting  .evangelist, 
and  Myers  a  safe  and  conservative  counselor,  and  so  affectionate 
(Liebreich)  and  self-sacrificing  in  his  disposition,  with  a  social 
magnetism  that  gained  him  respect  and  influence  among  all  classes 
of  people.  During  his  administration  in  the  eldership  of  thirty 
years  the  church  was  not  harrassed  and  distressed  by  visits  of 
officious  adjoining  elders.  Isaac  Myers  exercised  a  judicious  pro- 
tectorate over  the  flock.  He  was  a  man  of  correct  business  judg- 
ment, and  made  it  a  rule  to  be  more  strict  with  himself  than  with 
his  fellow-men.  A  test  was  presented  to  Elder  Sprogel  at  the 
time  of  their  joint  ordination,  which  created  much  inside  gossip 
among  the  membership.  Sprogel,  up  to  this  time,  was  a  clean- 
shaven man.  Elder  Kline  told  him  that  unless  he  would  grow 
his  beard,  he  could  not  be  ordained.  Sprogel  consented,  and  from 
that  time  on  cultivated  the  beard  of  a  Tunker  elder. 

During  the  administration  of  Isaac  Myers,  the  Sugar  Valley 
church  in  Clinton  County,  about  twenty-five  miles  north- 
west of  Buffalo  Valley,  was  built  up,  and  placed  upon  an 
enduring  congregational  and  financial  basis  of  usefulness.  He 
solemnized  many  marriages,  and  baptized  many  converts  dur- 
ing his  long  ministry,  because  the  people  generally  had  full  con- 
fidence in  his  Christian  integrity.  He  died  near  Mifflinburg, 
Pennsylvania,  November  12,  1879,  aged  seventy-five  years  eight 
months  and  eighteen  days.  The  term  of  his  active  ministry 
extended  over  about  forty  years. 

ELDER     MARTIN     NEHER. 

Martin  Neher  was  born  in  Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  May 
21,  18 1 2,  where  he  grew  to  manhood,  and  was  married  to  Susan- 
nah Simmons,  February  16,  1834.  To  them  were  born  twelve 
children.     His  wife  died  during  the  winter  of  1895,  and  he  joined 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL. 


373 


her  in  the  spirit  world,  October  18,  1899,  aged  eighty-seven  years 
four  months  and  twenty-seven  days. 

The  preaching  spirit  seems  to  have  been  in  the  family  blood, 
for  early  in  life  several  of  the  brothers  aspired  to  enter  the  holy 
work.  He  was  elected  to  the  ministry  at  Ladoga,  Indiana,  many 
years  ago,  in  the  congregation  presided  over  by  Elder  R.  H.  Mil- 
ler. He  was  advanced  to  the  full  ministry  in  the  Okaw  church, 
Piatt  County,  Illinois,  about  twenty-two  years  before  his  death, 
and  just  prior  to  his  removal  to  southern  Kansas.  The  members 
in    the    vicinity  of    his  new    home,  near    Monmouth,  Crawford 


ELDER     MARTIN     NEHER    AND    WIFE 


County,  Kansas,  were  soon  organized  and  became  the  Osage 
church,  and  Elder  Neher  and  Robert  Edgecomb  were  ordained 
to  the  eldership,  Neher  presiding  over  the  new  congregation 
almost  continuously  to  the  day  of  his  death.  He  was  a  man  of 
deep  convictions,  and  having  once  made  up  his  mind  on  any  point, 
it  was  almost  impossible  to  convince  him  of  the  incorrectness  of 
his  conclusions.  Of  his  descendants,  three  sons  and  two  grand- 
sons are  in  the  ministry,  and  through  them,  "he  being  dead,  yet 
speaketh." 


374  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

H.     MICHAEL    PFAUTZ. 

Hans  Michael  Pfautz  was  another  of  the  patriarchs,  whose 
memory  deserves  more  than  a  passing-  notice.  He  was  born  in 
the  Palatinate  of  the  Rhine,  in  Germany,  in  1709.  He  emigrated 
to  this  country  in  1727,  when  about  eighteen  years  of  age.  He 
came  over  in  the  ship  William  and  Sarah,  last  from  Dover,  Eng- 
land, under  command  of  Master  Hill,  as  by  clearance  of  his 
majesty's  customs  there. 

They  arrived  early  in  September  of  the  same  year,  with  one 
hundred  and  nine  Palatinates  on  board.  When  said  master  was 
asked  if  he  had  any  license  from  the  court  of  Great  Britain  for 
transporting  these  people,  and  what  their  intentions  were  in  com- 
ing hither,  he  said  that  they  had  no  license,  or  allowance,  for  their 
transportation,  more  than  the  above  clearance,  and  that  he  believed 
they  designed  to  settle  in  this  province.  Then,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Provincial  Council,  held  at  the  court-house  in  Phila- 
delphia, on  the  21st  of  the  same  month  (September),  all  the  male 
persons  above  the  age  of  sixteen  were  required  to  repeat  and  sub- 
scribe their  names,  themselves,  to  the  following  declaration : — 

"We,  subscribers,  natives  and  late  inhabitants  of  the  Palatinate 
upon  the  Rhine,  and  places  adjacent,  having  transported  our- 
selves and  families  into  the  province  of  Pennsylvania,  a  colony 
subject  to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  in  hope  and  expectation  of 
finding  a  retreat  and  peaceable  settlement  therein,  do  solemnly 
promise  and  engage  that  we  will  be  faithful,  and  bear  true 
allegiance  to  his  present  majesty,  King  George  the  Second,  and 
his  successors,  kings  of  Great  Britain,  and  will  be  faithful  to  the 
proprietor  of  this  province,  and  that  we  will  demean  ourselves 
peaceably  to  all  of  his  said  majesty's  subjects,  and  strictly 
observe  and  conform  to  the  laws  of  England  and  of  this  province, 
to  the  utmost  of  our  power  and  to  the  best  of  our  understanding." 

Afterward  they  landed,  and  settled  in  the  Tunker  settlement, 
in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania.  Here  he  became  convinced  of 
the  truth  of  the  doctrine  taught  by  the  brethren,  and  was  baptized 
by  Michael  Frantz,  first  elder  of  the  Conestoga  and  White  Oak 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  375 

churches,  in  the  year  1739.  In  1744  he  was  elected  to  the  minis- 
try, and  was  advanced  to  the  office  of  bishop  on  the  25th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1748,  by  unanimous  consent  of  both  churches.  He  was 
ordained  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  by  Elder  Michael  Frantz, 
whose  successor  he  became,  and  only  a  few  weeks  before  the  death 
of  Elder  Frantz. 

From  that  time  the  care  of  the  two  churches  rested  entirely 
upon  Elder  Pfautz.  His  duties  were  very  onerous,  and  were  pre- 
eminently successful  and  blessed  of  the  Lord.  During  the  first  year 
of  his  oversight  fifty-seven  persons  were  added  to  the  church,  and 
during  the  years  up  to  1755,  nearly  a  hundred  more  were  added. 
Then  he  met  with  a  series  of  troubles,  so  that  he  had  no  accessions 
to  record  for  seven  years.  About  the  year  1762  he  again  received 
the  spirit  of  revival,  and  the  few  remaining  years  of  his  eventful 
life  were  full  of  zeal  and  usefulness. 

He  was  married  to  Catharine  Schlauch,  by  whom  he  had  four 
children,  followed  by  a  numerous  generation,  many  of  whom  are 
in  fellowship  with  the  church,  and  several  in  the  ministry.  He 
died  May  14,  1769,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age.  Jacob  Sontag 
became  his  successor  in  office. 

JACOB     SONTAG. 

Jacob  Sontag  was  born  in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  in  the  year 
1700,  came  to  America  in  1733,  and  settled  in  Lancaster 
County,  Pennsylvania.  Here  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
Tunkers,  accepted  their  religion,  was  baptized  by  Elder  Frantz, 
and  entered  into  fellowship  with  the  Conestoga  church  in  the 
year  1743.  He  led  an  exemplary  life,  and  was  chosen  to  the 
ministry  September  25,  1748.  He  was  ordained  to  the  eldership, 
after  fifteen  years'  faithful  service,  in  May,  1763.  The  next  day, 
on  coming  to  church,  he  resigned  his  office  and  ministry  before 
the  whole  congregation,  and  never  afterward  exercised  in  either 
calling.  This  is  a  most  remarkable  circumstance  in  the  history 
of  the  church,  and  one  which  was  not  repeated  since,  and  may 
never  occur  again.  A  letter  dated  May  29,  1763,  contains  the 
following  account  of  the  affair,  which  we  copy  verbatim: — 


376  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

"Anno  1763,  im  Mai,  sind  dem  bruder  Jacob  Sontag  die  Haend 
auf  gclcgt  zvorden,  sum  Dicner  oder  Forsteher.  Aber  den 
folgenden  Tag  kam  er  in  die  versammlung,  und  hat  sein  Anit  und 
Dienst  vor  dcr  gonzcn  Gemcinde  zvieder  nieder  und  abgelegt,  und 
hat  niemals  etnas  von  diesem  Dienst  und  Anit  angcnommen, 
weder  bei  unsers  Vorsteher's  Leben,  noch  nach  seine  in  Tode. 
Hat  also  ganzlich  seinem  Anit  abgesagt/' 

It  is  said  he  remained  in  the  neighborhood  and  in  fellowship 
with  the  church  as  a  private  member,  but  never  gave  a  satisfactory 
reason  for  his  peremptory  refusal  to  serve  in  his  office.  He  was 
married  to  Mary  Landis,  and  had  one  son,  but  nothing  farther  is 
known  of  his  posterity.  His  death  is  noted  in  the  church  rec- 
ords, but  without  date. 

ELDER    WILLIAM     W.     PRICE. 

Elder  William  W.  Price  was  a  grandson  of  Jacob  Price,  who 
was  born  in  Witzenstein,  Prussia,  and  emigrated  to  this  country 
about  1 7 19,  and  settled  at  Indian  Creek,  Montgomery  County, 
Pennsylvania.  His  father's  name  was  Johannes  (John),  who  was 
the  only  son  of  the  above-named  Jacob.  John  Price  had  thirteen 
children,  but  only  seven  lived  to  raise  families.  William  was  born 
August  29,  1789,  on  the  homestead  of  his  grandfather.  He  was 
a  tailor  by  trade,  but  early  manifested  an  eager  desire  for  knowl- 
edge, and  improved  all  his  spare  moments  in. reading  and  study. 

He  was  elected  to  the  ministry  in  18 14,  and  ordained  an  elder 
in  1830.  He  was  "instant  in  season  and  out  of  season."  Besides 
the  care  of  a  large  family,  he  traveled  much  as  an  evangelist, 
without  pay.  He  was  a  preacher  of  more  than  ordinary  ability, 
hence  was  often  called  upon  to  preach  outside  of  his  own  denom- 
ination. He  understood  the  science  of  music,  and  sang  with  great 
compass  and  power.  He  also  was  a  poet  of  no  mean  ability,  and 
wrote  a  number  of  hymns.  He  wrote  a  poem  of  some  length  on 
the  promises  to  the  patriarch  Abraham,  and  another  on  the  his- 
tory of  the  prophecies,  which  have  never  been  published. 

He  died  on  August  7,  1849.  He  was  the  father  of  ten  chil- 
dren.    He  belonged  to  a  priestly  family.     Probably  twenty-five  of 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  377 

his  near  relatives  before  and  after  him  were  preachers,  among 
them  Elders  John  and  Isaac  Price,  of  Green  Tree  and  Coventry, 
in  Pennsylvania. 

ELDER    ISAAC    PRICE. 

Elder  Isaac  Price  was  born  in  Coventry  Township,  Chester 
County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  24th  day  of  September,  1802.  He 
was  the  son  of  Elder  John  Price,  a  widely-known  and  eloquent 
minister  of  the  Brethren  Church,  and  an  early  friend  of  Sabbath- 
school  work. 

Elder  Isaac  Price  was  the  eldest  of  twelve  children,  and  a 
descendant,  in  a  direct  line  of  ministers  in  the  Brethren  Church, 
from  Elder  Jacob  Preisz,  the  ancestor  of  the  family  in  this  coun- 
try, who  was  born  in  Witgenstein,  Prussia,  and  emigrated  to 
America  in  17 19,  having  been  driven  from  the  old  country  by 
persecution.  He  settled  at  Indian  Creek,  in  Lower  Salford  Town- 
ship, Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania.  His  son,  John  Preisz, 
was  also  a  minister,  as  were  also  Daniel  Preisz,  of  the  third  gen- 
eration, and  George  Price  (modern  style  of  spelling  name),  of  the 
fourth,  and  his  son,  John  Price,  of  the  fifth  generation,  who  was 
the  father  of  Elder  Isaac  Price,  and  who  was  therefore  the  great- 
great-great-grandson  of  the  first  settler  of  the  family  in  this 
country. 

Elder  Price  taught  school  in  early  life,  and  at  one  period  lived 
in  Pottstown,  Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  for  a  time 
was  one  of  the  editors  and  proprietors  of  the  Lafayette  Aurora, 
a  newspaper  started  in  Pottstown,  about  1825.  He  subsequently 
removed  to  Schuylkill  Township,  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business,  and  continued  in  the 
same  nearly  all  the  rest  of  his  lifetime.  He  was  appointed  post- 
master there,  during  the  administration  of  President  Jackson,  and 
held  that  office  under  all  changes  of  administration,  until  about 
two  years  before  his  death,  when  he  resigned.  For  a  long  time 
he  was  one  of  the  oldest  and  in  later  years  the  oldest  postmaster 
in  the  United  States,  as  to  length  of  tenure  of  office. 

He  was  a  minister  of  the  Tunker  Church  for  nearly  fifty  years. 


378  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

He  had  great  ability  as  a  preacher  and  orator.  At  Green  Tree 
church,  in  Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania,  was  his  principal 
place  of  preaching,  but  he  frequently  preached  in  the  old  Coventry 
meeting-house,  and  also  at  Lawrenceville,  both  in  Chester  County, 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  not  only  active  in  the  cause  of  religion,  and 
an  earnest  and  successful  revivalist,  but  active  and  earnest  in 
every  branch  and  department  of  the  Master's  work.  He  was  a 
great  friend  of  children,  and  was  highly  appreciated  by  them 
everywhere. 

He  was  a  strong  advocate  of  the  abolition  of  slavery,  laboring 
manfully  in  the  cause,  and  had  the  great  satisfaction  of  seeing 
that  curse  removed.  He  was  an  equally  strong  advocate  of  the 
temperance  cause,  down  to  his  last  days,  and  protested  by  word 
and  action  against  the  use  of  alcoholic  wines  for  communion 
service,  instead  of  the  pure  fruit  of  the  vine,  unfermented. 

Elder  Price  not  only  stood  high  in  his  own  religious  denomina- 
tion, as  a  pious  and  zealous  Christian  man  and  preacher,  but 
enjoyed  the  love  and  respect  of  all  other  churches  and  people 
wherever  he  was  known. 

It  may  well  be  said  of  Elder  Isaac  Price,  as  it  was  at  the  death 
of  his  father  before  him,  "Lo,  a  great  man  is  fallen  in  Israel !" 
He  was  married  to  Hannah  H.  Umstead,  March  17,  1826.  They 
had  three  children. 

In  reference  to  the  troubles  in  the  church,  Elder  Price  strongly 
condemned  the  actions  of  the  German  Baptists  expelling  com- 
mittees. His  sympathies  were  with  the  progressives,  but  he  was 
willing  to  fellowship  the  good  in  both  divisions  of  the  church. 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  addressed  to  the  author  of 
this  work,  will  indicate  the  intensity  of  his  desire  to  avert  a  divi- 
sion in  the  church  : — 

Dated  March  4,  1884. 
"Should  annual  meeting  readopt  minutes  as  advisory  only, 
accept  the  New  Testament  as  our  creed  and  discipline,  would  not 
the  greater  part  flow  together  by  congenial  attraction?  I  do 
think  many  see  their  error.  Oh,  try  to  keep  the  way  open  for  all 
who  have  the  same  views  of  the  gospel  to  flow  together !     It  will 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  379 

require  self-abnegation,  and  earnest  devotion  to  the  good  cause, 
but  nothing  is  impossible  with  God." 

Dated  February  29,  1884. 

"I  deprecate  the  causes  of  this  division ;  I  mourn  over  the 
result ;  but  I  am  not  without  hope  that  the  brethren  and  the  Ger- 
man Baptists  may  yet  become  one  communion.  Those  who  really 
are  progressive  Christians,  of  the  number  who  practice  as  we  do 
in  the  ordinances,  should  all  be  one  communion.  Oh,  do  try  to 
move  that  such  a  union  may  be  possible !  The  Old  German  Bap- 
tist brethren  are  a  fixed  fact,  and  they  have  no  progressive  root 
in  all  their  movements. 

"The  brethren  have  accepted  the  true  foundation, — the  gospel 
of  Jesus  only, — and  I  hope  they  will  move  very  carefully.  The 
German  Baptists  are  still  the  large  body,  but  they  are  not  a  unit 
in  the  sense  that  the  other  two  parties  are.  A  large  portion  of 
them  are  in  unison  with  the  brethren,  but  do  not  feel  prepared  to 
unite  with  them ;  but  they  are  the  leaven  which  is  working  to  the 
end,  viz.,  unity." 

Dated  March   17,   1884. 

"Your  paper  is  well  filled,  and  breathes  a  good  spirit  in  gen- 
eral, but  an  occasional  word  shows  want  of  charity  for  what  are 
deemed  erring  brethren.  The  Lord  has  precious  saints  in  each 
of  the  three  sects  of  the  Tunker  Church,  or  I  might  more  properly 
say,  in  two  sects,  as  the  Brethren  Church  is  not  a  sect  of  the 
body,  but  the  remaining  branch,  who  hold  to  the  name.  Each 
of  the  others  has  taken  a  departure.  I  am  pleased  that  you 
hold  to  the  true,  good,  old  name,  and  would  be  glad  to  see  the 
day,  or  even  to  think  of  the  day,  when  all  will  be  so  named.  O 
my  clear  brother,  how  I  love  you,  and  how  earnestly  I  pray  God 
to  bless  you,  lead  and  guide  you  in  everything  you  say,  think,  or 
do,  that  is  prompted  by  the  good  Spirit,  and  fill  your  heart  with 
hope,  faith,  and  charity !     .     .     . 

"Keep  in  mind  and  hope  for  the  possibility  of  all  flowing  into 
one  again."     (Portraits  11  and  55.) 


380  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ELDER    JAMES    OU INTER. 

James  Quinter  was  born  February  1,  1816.  His  parents  were 
John  and  Alary  Quinter.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  in  that  city  he  made  his  home,  and  there  the  eldest 
two  of  his  children  were  born.  Mrs.  Quinter  s  maiden  name 
was  Mary  Smith,  and  she  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey.  The 
family  was  dependent  on  the  father's  daily  labor  for  support. 
In  1824  they  removed  to  Phcenixville,  Pennsylvania,  about 
twenty-five  miles  from  Philadelphia,  where  the  father  found 
work  at  the  iron  mills.  The  boy,  James,  was  also  employed 
during  the  intervals  between  the  short  school  terms.  He  drove 
a  donkey  and  cart,  gathering  the  work  as  it  was  finished.  The 
father  died  in  1829,  leaving  his  wife,  one  son,  and  two  daughters, 
with  little  means  of  support.  Thus,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  the 
duty  of  helping  to  care  for  his  mother  and  sisters  rested  upon 
James. 

The  children  were  sent  to  school  as  much  as  possible.  The 
schools  of  those  times  were  very  different  from  those  of  the 
present,  yet  with  the  lessons  of  the  school-books  were  inculcated 
lessons  of  truth,  purity,  and  nobility. 

The  Bible  was  in  daily  use  in  many  schools,  and  their  read- 
ing books  contained  selections  from  the  writings  of  their  stand- 
ard authors.  A  love  of  books  and  a  desire  for  an  education 
were  awakened  by  such  lessons.  This,  no  doubt,  had  an  impor- 
tant influence  in  the  formation  of  those  noble  purposes  and  high 
ideals  which  characterized  the  subject  of  this  notice.  In  his 
boyhood  he  manifested  a  determination  to  obtain  an  education. 
His  mother  shared  his  desire,  and  did  all  she  could  to  help  him. 
After  leaving  school  he  obtained  a  situation  in  the  store  of 
Brother  Isaac  Price,  near  Phcenixville.  Brother  Price  said,  "I 
soon  found  he  was  too  reserved  to  make  a  good  storekeeper,  and 
asked  Brother  Fitzwater  to  take  him  on  the  farm/' 

We  next  find  him  in  the  family  of  Brother  Abel  Fitzwater. 
To  the  influence  of  this  kind  Christian  family  he  attributed  his 
early   conversion,   and    they   were    ever    kindly   and    gratefully 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  38 1 

remembered.  In  the  community  were  the  homes  of  John 
Umstead,  George  Price,  and  Isaac  Price.  These  brethren,  with 
Brother  Fitzwater,  were  among  those  who  came  into  the  church 
during  a  religious  revival  in  the  community  in  1831.  They  were 
baptized  in  the  Coventry  church,  near  Pottstown.  Through  the 
efforts  of  these  brethren,  meetings  for  public  worship  were  held 
in  the  schoolhouses,  and  prayer-meetings  wrere  held  at  their 
homes.  During  a  meeting  in  the  old  Green  Tree  schoolhouse, 
his  mind  was  aroused  upon  the  subject  of  his  salvation.  It 
engaged  his  thoughts  deeply  for  a  time,  and  one  day  as  he  was 
working  at  the  barn  he  suddenly  stopped,  exclaiming,  "I've  got 
it ;  I've  got  it ;"  and  ran  to  the  house.  "I've  got  it, — peace  with 
God."  He  was  baptized  in  the  Coventry  church  in  his  seven- 
teenth year. 

Later  a  church  was  organized  in  the  village  of  Lumberville, 
now  Port  Providence.  Their  first  love-feast  was  held  in  Brother 
Umstad's  barn.  The  church  grew  and  increased  in  numbers  and 
power.  In  this  church,  prayer-meetings  and  protracted  meetings 
were  first  held  among  the  brethren.  These  prayer-meetings 
afforded  good  opportunities  for  exercising  gifts.  They  were 
excellent  promoters  of  spiritual  life,  and  good  schools  for 
improvement  in  many  ways. 

From  the  beginning  of  his  Christian  experience  his  life  was 
characterized  by  deep  piety.  His  exemplary  character,  his  ear- 
nestness, and  his  sincerity,  won  for  him  the  love  and  confidence 
of  all  who  knew  him. 

His  friends,  noting  his  zeal  and  his  manifest  disposition  to 
learn,  were  interested  in  him,  and  by  their  assistance  he  was 
enabled  to  prepare  himself  for  teaching.  He  began  teaching  in 
Limerick  Township,  Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania,  in 
Hobson's  schoolhouse.  In  the  spring  of  1834  he  came  to  Lum- 
berville, and  continued  to  teach  here  seven  years,  from  1834  to 
1 84 1.  To  his  work  in  the  school-room  he  devoted  all  his  ener- 
gies, and  not  only  labored  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  his 
pupils  the  temporal  truths  of  their  daily  lessons,  but  also  by 
precept  and  example  endeavored  to  lead  them  to  the  higher 
truths  of  the  spiritual  life. 


382  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Shortly  after  his  conversion  he  was  impressed  with  a  call  to 
follow  his  Master  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  His  conviction 
of  this  duty  grew  stronger,  yet  in  this,  as  in  all  things  else,  he 
was  willing  to  submit  the  time  to  the  Lord's  will.  In  1838,  in 
a  council  meeting,  held  at  the  home  of  Brother  George  Price,  he 
was  called  by  the  church  to  the  ministry. 

In  his  calling  as  a  minister  he  grew  rapidly  in  favor  with  the 
church  and  in  the  estimation  of  the  public.  Having  a  good  use 
of  the  English  language,  his  labors  were  especially  appreciated 
by  the  more  intelligent  classes,  and  Elder  Quinter  must  be  cred- 
ited with  the  conversion  of  a  greater  number  of  that  class  of 
people  than  any  other  minister  in  the  Tunker  Church  before  his 
time. 

While  his  preaching  was  somewhat  emotional,  his  sermons 
were  logical,  and  free  from  everything  sensational.  He  scrupu- 
lously avoided  all  pleasantry  in  his  discourses.  The  nearest 
approach  to  the  humorous  which  I  can  recall  occurred  during 
my  first  attendance  at  his  services  in  Columbiana,  Ohio.  In 
referring  to  the  incident  of  Jacob  and  Rachel  he  remarked  that 
"Jacob  must  have  loved  Rachel  very  dearly  if  his  seven  years' 
service  would  appear  as  but  a  few  days  for  the  love  he  had  to 
her,"  which  remark  was  accompanied  by  a  smile. 

He  soon  became  popular  as  an  evangelist,  and  his  service  was 
in  great  demand  in  all  the  English  churches  of  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  and  New  Jersey,  where  he  traveled  much.  He  was, 
indeed,  the  boy  preacher  of  his  age  and  denomination.  Although 
history  says  he  was  called  to  the  ministry  by  the  church  in  1838, 
those  who  are  able  to  read  between  the  lines  may  readily  dis- 
cover that  he  commenced  preaching  "shortly  after  his  conver- 
sion," which  occurred  in  his  seventeenth  year.  His  official  call 
and  installation  to  the  ministry  added  dignity  and  authority  to 
his  youthful  appearance,  and  he  soon  became  as  popular  a  coun- 
selor as  he  had  been  a  preacher. 

During  my  apprenticeship  to  printing  in  the  office  of  the  Gos- 
pel Visitor,  after  its  removal  to  Columbiana,  Ohio,  I  boarded  at 
Elder  Ouinter's  during  the  summer  of  1857.     In  September  of 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  383 

this  year,  Sister  Quinter  returned  to  the  home  of  her  parent, 
Daniel  Mosers,  in  Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  last  stage 
of  consumption,  where  she  died  October  9,  1857. 

My  relation  and  associations  with  the  family  were  the  most 
pleasant  of  my  life  among  strangers.  Sister  Quinter  being  ill 
all  the  while  of  my  sojourn  with  them,  afforded  me  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  learn  the  disposition  of  Elder  Quinter  in  a  time 
of  trouble  and  trial.  Being  of  a  very  quiet,  studious,  and  devout 
nature,  he  was  inclined  to  accept  every  misfortune  as  the  inev- 
itable. Sister  Quinter  was  of  the  opposite  nature,  and  disposed 
to  take  everything  to  heart.  Elder  Quinter  was  very  strict  in 
the  family,  both  as  to  his  own  habits  and  those  of  the  members 
of  the  household.  He  was  courteous  in  his  domestic  relations, 
and  always  agreeable.  He  was  very  strict  in  keeping  the  Lord's 
day,  even  so  that  he  objected  to  having  fruit  in  the  process  of 
drying  carried  into  the  sunshine  on  Sunday  morning. 

I  attended  a  four-days  discussion  on  baptism  between  Elder 
Quinter  and  Joseph  Fitchner,  a  Lutheran  preacher.  The  debate 
was  held  in  the  vicinity  of  Claysburg,  Blair  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  the  winter  of  1853.  In  this  discussion  Elder  Quinter 
showed  his  Christian  manhood  and  strength  of  purpose  to  per- 
fection. It  was,  in  the  estimation  of  the  writer,  a  fiery  ordeal, 
almost  equal  to  martyrdom.  It  appeared  as  though  Mr.  Fitchner 
was  determined  to  break  down  his  opponent  by  provocation.  He 
taunted  him,  mocked  him,  ridiculed  him,  and  did  everything  that 
he  thought  might  provoke  Brother  Quinter  and  throw  him  off  his 
guard,  but  Brother  Quinter  appeared  to  be  clothed  with  a  coat 
of  mail,  proof  against  the  darts  of  his  enemy.  Nothing  but  the 
grace  of  God  could  sustain  a  man  under  such  trial. 

Brother  S.  B.  Furry,  of  Martinsburg,  Pennsylvania,  who  also 
attended  the  debate  says  of  Mr.  Fitchner's  manner  of  discussion : 
"He  simply  misrepresented  and  ridiculed  his  opponent.  In  ref- 
erence to  Paul's  baptism,  he  said,  'Paul  could  not  have  been 
immersed ;  why,  he  was  so  sick,  he  could  not  even  raise  his  head/ 
As  he  said  this,  he  let  himself  down  almost  to  the  pulpit  to  give 
emphasis  to  his  assertion.     On  another  occasion,  Quinter  asked 


384  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

permission  to  correct  some  of  Fitchner's  misstatements.  Fitch- 
ner  stepped  back,  leaned  against  the  wall,  and  granted  permis- 
sion. Quinter  proceeded  very  mildly,  when  he  was  suddenly  cut 
short  by  Fitchner  stepping  forward,  and,  with  defiant  gesture, 
crying  out,  'I  will  not  yield  my  stand  if  hell  resist.'  " 

I  will  add  one  more  incident.  Fitchner  said  he  would  now 
"give  out"  a  Tunker  hymn,  and  this  is  his  hymn : — 

"Ho,  every  son  and  daughter, 
Here's  salvation  in  the  water, 
Come  and  be  immersed, 
O,  come  and  be  immersed!" 

And  as  he  repeated  these  words  he  would  duck  his  head  down  to 
his  knees,  in  the  most  dramatic  style,  in  derision  of  the  Tunker 
mode  of  baptism. 

I  also  attended  the  debate  between  Elder  Quinter  and  Mr. 
Mitchell,  in  Cumberland  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  June,  1868. 
This  discussion  was  conducted  more  nearly  on  Christian  princi- 
ples. Mr.  Mitchell  was  a  Christian  gentleman,  and  profession- 
ally a  lawyer.  He  used  much  Christian  persuasion  in  his  argu- 
ments. He  appeared  to  be  entirely  indifferent  as  to  the  decision 
of  the  technical  results  of  the  discussion,  and  directed  his  remarks 
to  the  propagation  of  his  favorite  views  of  the  subject  under 
discussion.  Neither  did  he  confine  himself  strictly  to  the  sub- 
jects under  consideration,  but  would  digress,  and  theorize,  and 
exhort,  and  teach  from  the  entire  Campbellite  confession  of 
faith.  It  was  universally  granted  that  Brother  Quinter  ably 
defended  his  cause,  and  fairly  met  every  proposition.  One  inci- 
dent I  recall.  I  was  appointed  to  conduct  one  of  the  morning 
services.  Being  a  novice  in  religious  discussions,  I  asked  the 
Lord,  in  my  opening  prayer,  for  a  special  blessing  on  Brother 
Quinter,  that  he  might  be  enabled  to  successfully  defend  the 
truth.  And  in  order  to  show  impartiality,  I  offered  a  prayer 
also  for  Mr.  Mitchell,  that  the  Lord  would  give  him  light  to  see 
his  error  and  accept  of  the  better  way.  My  prayer  evidently 
irritated  Mr.  Mitchell's  natural  and  acquired  evenness  of  temper, 
as  was  manifest  in  his  speeches  during  the  day.     In  the  evening, 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  385 

on  our  way  homeward,  Brother  Quinter  kindly  admonished  me 
to  be  more  impartial  in  my  prayers  on  such  occasions.  To  this  I 
replied  that  when  I  go  to  the  Lord,  I  ask  for  favors  exactly  such 
as  I  want,  and  that  I  had  asked  for  that  which  I  desired,  and  I 
believe  for  that  which  all  the  brethren  desired,  and  could  say 
amen.  To  this  he  assented,  with  the  remark  that  in  a  public  dis- 
cussion each  party  must  grant  the  possibility  of  himself  being  in 
the  wrong  and  his  opponent  in  the  right,  and  that  in  our  prayers 
this  impartiality  should  be  recognized,  if  for  nothing  else,  as  a 
matter  of  courtesy  and  consistency  (the  truth  of  which  I  now 
acknowledge),  and  that  it  had  been  manifest  during  the  entire 
day  that  Mr.  Mitchell  felt  aggravated,  and  that  it  appeared  to 
him  that  the  morning  service  was  the  cause  of  it,  all  of  which 
appears  very  reasonable  to  me  at  this  time. 

Brother  Quinter  became  associate  editor  of  the  Gospel  Visitor 
about  the  year  1856.  He  moved  into  the  vicinity  in  which  the 
paper  was  being  printed,  some  time  during  the  same  year.  His 
first  editorial  was  published  in  the  June  number  of  that  year. 

In  June,  1857,  the  office  of  the  Visitor  was  removed  to  Colum- 
biana, Ohio,  a  village  on  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne,  and  Chicago 
Railroad.  In  the  autumn  of  1866  the  office  was  moved  to  Cov- 
ington, Ohio,  where  it  remained  until  May,  1869,  when  it  was 
moved  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  the  editorial  office  abiding  at  Covington. 
In  1873  Elder  Quinter  purchased  Brother  Henry  J.  Kurtz'  inter- 
est in  the  Gospel  Visitor,  and  the  Christian  Family  Companion, 
then  published  at  Dale  City  (now  Meyersdale),  Pennsylvania, 
of  H.  R.  Holsinger.  The  Companion,  being  issued  weekly,  and 
having  a  circulation  of  about  five  thousand  copies,  and  having  a 
large  and  well-stocked  office,  took  the  preference,  and  was 
continued. 

Brother  Quinter  removed  his  family  to  Meyersdale  some  time 
about  the  close  of  the  year  1873,  and  took  editorial  charge  of  the 
Companion  on  the  first  of  October.  January,  1876,  the  name  of 
the  paper  was  changed  to  the  Primitive  Christian,  and  in  Octo- 
ber of  the  same  year  he  consolidated  with  Brethren  H.  B.  and 
J.  B.  Brumbaugh,  publishers  of  the  Weekly  Pilgrim,  and  removed 

25 


386  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

to  Huntingdon,  Pennsylvania,  where  the  Primitive  Christian  was 
continued,  published  by  Quinter  and  Brumbaugh  Brothers. 

In  June,  1883,  the  Primitive  Christian  and  the  Brethren  at 
Work  were  consolidated,  and  the  name  of  the  paper  changed  to 
the  Gospel  Messenger,  Brother  Quinter  remaining  editor-in- 
chief,  which  place  he  held  till  the  day  of  his  death. 

Brother  Quinter  died  a  glorious  death,  while  on  his  knees 
offering  prayer,  at  one  of  the  services  preceding  the  national 
conference  of  his  denomination,  in  the  midst  of  his  friends,  and 
admirers,  and  associates  in  the  service  of  the  Lord,  apparently 
without  pain  or  distress,  or  even  threatening  danger.  He  was 
thanking  God  for  His  blessing,  and  with  a  cheerful  heart 
exclaimed,  "We  are  glad  to  meet  again  !"  which  were  his  last 
words  on  earth  ;  and  as  his  spirit  winged  its  way  to  heaven,  it 
was  accompanied  by  the  same  happy  salutation  in  the  memorable 
words,  "We  are  glad  to  meet  again."  The  conference  that  year 
was  held  at  North  Manchester,  Indiana,  and  his  death  occurred 
on  Saturday,  May  19,  1888.  Age,  seventy-two  years  three 
months  eighteen  days. 

For  data  of  the  first  part  of  this  sketch,  I  am  indebted  to 
"Life  and  Sermons  of  Elder  James  Quinter,"  by  Mary  N.  Quinter. 
(Portrait  53,  group  5.) 

ELDER     LEVI     ROBERTS. 

Prominent  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  southern  part  of 
Cambria  County,  Pennsylvania,  was  Elder  Levi  Roberts.  His 
grandfather  was  a  native  of  Wales.  He  first  settled  in  Virginia, 
where  his  children  were  born,  and  where,  probably,  he  died.  He 
had  several  children,  but  little  is  known  of  them,  except  of  his 
son  Joseph,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  notice.  Joseph 
Roberts  married  Agnes  Seabrooks,  daughter  of  William  Sea- 
brooks,  of  Maryland,  and  resided  for  a  while  in  Virginia  and 
Maryland,  but  subsequently  settled  in  what  was  known  as  Wood- 
cock Valley,  Huntingdon  County,  Pennsylvania.  He  had  a  num- 
ber of  children,  only  five  of  whom  lived  to  years  of  maturity, 
viz.,  Richard,  Nancy,  Jemima,  Mary,  and  Levi. 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  387 

Richard,  his  eldest  son,  joined  the  American  army  during  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  never  returned. 

Nancy  married  Jacob  Sheets,  but  never  lived  west  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains.  Jemima  married  Patrick  Dimond,  and 
Mary  married  John  Shaffer.     They  both  died  in  this  county. 

Levi  was  born  in  Huntingdon  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the 
9th  day  of  February,  1779.  That  part  of  the  country  was,  at 
that  time,  overrun  by  the  Indians,  and  the  lives  and  property  of 
the  settlers  were  in  perpetual  danger.  When  about  two  years  of 
age,  his  father,  Joseph  Roberts,  was  killed  by  the  Indians. 

Levi's  mother  and  the  family  remained  together  at  the  same 
place  after  their  sad  bereavement  until  the  end  of  the  war,  but 
were  continually  driven  from  place  to  place  by  the  Indians.  On 
the  19th  day  of  November,  1799,  he  married  Elizabeth  Gochnour, 
daughter  of  David  Gochnour,  of  Bedford  County,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1803  he,  with  his  mother  and  his  two  brothers-in-law, 
Dimond  and  Shaffer,  moved  to  what  is  now  Cambria  County,  and 
settled  on  a  tract  of  land  called  the  "Vineyard,"  which  he  had 
purchased  from  Martin  Reiley,  of  Bedford,  and  which  has  been 
surveyed  on  a  warrant  in  the  name  of  John  Gregg,  and  after 
sundry  conveyances  was  patented  to  Reuben  Haynes,  of  Phila- 
delphia.    It  is  situated  about  five  miles  north  of  Johnstown. 

His  mother  resided  with  him  till  the  time  of  her  death,  which 
occurred  on  the  24th  of  August,  1833.  She  was  born  March  18, 
1743,  Old  Style. 

Elder  Roberts  possessed  a  remarkably  strong  physical  consti- 
tution, and  surmounted  difficulties  and  endured  hardships  which 
men  of  the  present  time  would  not  dare  to  encounter.  As  soon 
as  he  had  a  shelter  erected  for  his  family,  he  commenced  a  war 
of  extermination  upon  the  wild  animals  around  him,  and  numer- 
ous panthers,  wolves,  bears,  deer,  and  smaller  animals  yearly  fell 
victims  to  his  keen  sagacity  as  a  hunter.  Often  when  engaged  in 
hunting  he  would  camp  out  in  the  most  inclement  seasons. 
Building  a  large  fire,  and  sleeping  upon  a  bed  of  hemlock  boughs, 
with  his  unerring  rifle  by  his  side,  and  surrounded  by  his  faithful 
dogs,  he  had  little  to  fear  from  the  savage  denizens  of  the  forest. 


388  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

In  1839  he  sold  his  farm,  but  remained  in  the  neighborhood  till 
1844,  when  he  moved  to  Iowa,  then  a  territory,  and  settled  in 
Jefferson  County,  where  his  wife  died  on  the  6th  of  December, 
1846.  In  1848  he  returned  to  Cambria  County,  and  remained 
here  till  the  time  of  his  death.  About  the  year  1820  he  joined 
the  Tunkers,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  was  chosen  and  ordained 
a  minister  of  the  gospel. 

In  his  ministerial  capacity  he  labored  with  commendable  zeal 
and  energy.  He  traveled  much  through  Cambria,  Somerset, 
Bedford,  Huntingdon,  Indiana,  and  Armstrong  Counties,  fre- 
quently passing  over  rugged  and  almost  impassable  roads,  some- 
times on  horseback,  and  sometimes  on  foot,  yet  he  seldom  failed 
to  fill  an  appointment. 

He  died  on  the  6th  of  December,  i860,  just  fourteen  years 
after  the  death  of  his  wife,  and  is  buried  in  Angus'  graveyard. 
His  age  was  eighty-one  years  nine  months  and  twenty-seven  days. 
He  was  much  esteemed  by  his  neighbors  and  acquaintances,  as 
an  honest,  upright  man,  and  a  sincere  Christian,  and  we  may 
safely  say,  he  died  without  an  enemy. 

I  frequently  heard  Brother  Roberts  preach,  and  on  several 
occasions  listened  to  his  thrilling  tales  of  adventure  and  pioneer 
life. 

ELDER    PHILIP    ROTHENBERGER. 

George  Philip  Rothenberger  was  born  at  Bartenheim,  Hesse 
Darmstadt,  Germany,  August,  1802.  His  parents  were  Luther- 
ans, and  he  was  christened  and  confirmed  in  that  church.  His 
father  died  when  he  was  twelve  years  old,  and  his  mother  after- 
ward married  a  man  who  proved  to  be  a  very  cruel  stepfather, 
who  mistreated  his  wife  and  her  children. 

The  following  biographical  sketch  was  written  by  Jacob  Rothen- 
berger, a  son  of  Elder  Philip.  Jacob  became  a  minister  in  the 
Brethren  Church,  soon  after  its  organization,  and  lived  and 
labored  at  La  Paz,  Indiana.  He  had  an  excellent  reputation 
for  truthfulness,  honesty,  and  godly  zeal,  but  was  not  noted  as  a 
preacher.  He  had,  also,  a  good  education,  and  engaged  in 
teaching  a  number  of  terms.     He  died  about  1898. 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  389 

"111  the  year  1839  Elder  Henry  Kurtz  went  to  visit  his  father,  in 
the  kingdom  of  Wurtenburg,  Germany.  He  also  went  into 
Switzerland.  He  came  to  father's  about  Easter.  I  first  saw  him 
at  the  house  of  my  grandfather.  He  preached  several  times  in 
that  vicinity,  and  baptized  several  persons,  my  father  being  the 
first.  Mr.  Froelich  heard  of  it,  and  wrote  quite  a  long  letter  to 
the  church,  in  which  he  denounced  Brother  Kurtz  as  a  deceiver, 
and  by  a  series  of  arguments  succeeded  in  winning  back  some  of 
those  who  had  been  immersed  by  Brother  Kurtz.  Father,  with  a 
few  others,  remained  faithful.  He  continued  to  hold  meetings 
at  our  house  and  other  places.  He  was  severely  persecuted. 
Once  he  was  nearly  killed.  He  was  actually  left  for  dead  not 
far  from  his  own  house.  His  beard  was  pulled  out.  Father  and 
Brother  Kurtz  kept  up  correspondence,  which  resulted  in  coming 
to  the  United  States,  where  he  labored  among  the  Tunkers  as  a 
minister  for  forty  years.  He  traveled  very  extensively,  and  sold 
books  among  the  brethren.  Soon  after  coming  to  the  United 
States  he  lost  his  second  wife.  He  was  again  married,  in  1842, 
to  Mary  Kleisly,  who  accompanied  us  to  the  United  States. 

In  1845  he  moved  to  Carroll  County,  Indiana,  and  in  185 1  to 
Kosciusko  County,  where  he  died  Oct.  30,  1882.  His  son  Daniel 
is  a  minister  in  the  German  Baptist  Church. 

I  remember,  also,  of  meeting  Elder  Philip  Rothenberger, 
who  called  at  my  father's  when  I  was  a  boy,  and  of  seeing  the 
bare  sport  in  his  beard  where  the  hair  had  been  plucked  out  dur- 
ing the  persecution  in  Germany,  and  of  hearing  him  relate  his 
experience  during  that  trying  ordeal. 

PROFESSOR  J.  G.   ROYER. 

Professor  John  G.  Rover,  M.  A.,  president  of  Mt.  Morris  Col- 
lege, was  born  April  22,  1838,  at  Hartleton,  Pennsylvania,  being 
the  son  of  Jacob  and  Susan  (Myers)  Rover.  His  father  was  a 
minister  of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  preaching  as  opportuni- 
ties were  afforded  him.  Professor  Rover  gained  his  early  edu- 
cation in  the  country  schools  of  his  native  county,  and  later 
attended  the  academy  at  Mifninburg,  but  completed  his  literary 


390  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

course  at  Union  Seminary,  at  New  Berlin,  Pennsylvania.  At 
twenty  he  had  completed  his  college  education,  and  decided  to 
pursue  teaching  as  a  life  profession.  From  1858  to  1863  he  was 
engaged  in  teaching  in  the  graded  schools  of  his  native  state. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  went  to  Darke  County,  Ohio,  and 
there  continued  teaching  in  graded  schools  eight  years,  being 
principal  of  the  schools  at  Webster  and  Versailles  the  last  six 
years.  In  1871  he  went  to  Burnettsville,  White  County,  Indiana, 
and  was  principal  of  the  high  school  at  that  place  four  consecu- 
tive years.  He  then  accepted  the  superintendency  of  the  high 
school  at  Monticello,  Indiana,  and  held  it  with  honor  for  eight 
years.  While  at  this  place  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was 
bestowed  upon  him,  entirely  unsolicited.  From  Monticello  he 
went  to  Mount  Morris,  and  was  assigned  the  chair  of  English 
literature  in  the  college.  The  year  following  his  arrival  he  was 
elected  to  the  presidency  of  the  college,  and  has  fulfilled  that 
position  with  much  credit  ever  since.  President  Rover  is  a  strict 
disciplinarian,  and  his  advice  and  admonition,  given  in  private 
and  chapel  talks,  have  been  of  untold  value  to  the  students. 

December  8,  i860,  Professor  Rover  was  married  to  Miss  Lizzie 
ReifT,  of  his  native  county.  Professor  Rover  was  elected  to  the 
ministry  in  1872,  at  Monticello,  Indiana,  and  along  with  his 
school  work,  he  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  church  matters. 
In  1 88 1-  he  was  advanced  to  the  eldership,  and  has  continued  to 
act  in  that  capacity  ever  since.  He  is  now  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  able  ministers  of  the  German  Baptist  Church  in  Illinois. 

ELDER     DANIEL     P.      SAYLER. 

Elder  Daniel  P.  Sayler  was  born  near  Beaver  Darn,  Frederick 
County,  Maryland,  June  23,  181 1.  He  was  a  grandson  of  Elder 
Daniel  Sayler,  who,  with  his  parents,  was  the  first  Tunker  that 
settled  in  the  territory  known  as  the  Beaver  Dam  church.  The 
family  emigrated  from  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  about  the 
year  1772,  and  in  course  of  time  built  the  home  in  which  the  Elder 
Daniel  and,  after  his  death,  the  Elder  Jacob  Sayler  lived  and 
entertained    the    brotherhood    of    the    church    for    ninety    years. 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  39 1 

Daniel  Sayler,  great-gandfather  of  Daniel  P.,  was  a  native  of 
Switzerland,  but  emigrated  to  America  about  the  year  1750. 

Elder  Sayler  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife,  a  Miss  Root, 
died  in  1874.  His  second  wife  was  a  Miss  Rohrer,  of  Washing- 
ton County,  Maryland.     He  died  June  6,  1885. 

The  life  of  Daniel  P.  Sayler  forms  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
history  of  the  Tunker  Church.  During  the  last  thirty-five  years 
of  his  life,  he  was  a  leading  figure  in  the  movements  of  this  relig- 
ious body,  took  a  prominent  part  in  its  councils,  and  was  fore- 
most in  establishing  the  notable  "Mandatory  Resolution,"  which 
led  to  a  separation  of  the  German  Baptist  Church.  He  was  the 
author  of  this  resolution,  which  made  the  decisions  of  the  annual 
meeting  final  on  questions  submitted  to  it  for  advice. 

He  united  with  the  church  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  three  years 
thereafter  was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  on  the  7th  of  May,  1850, 
ordained  as  elder.  He  was  elected  to  the  ministry  the  same  year 
his  grandfather  died,  the  grandson  thus  taking  up  the  mantle  laid 
aside  by  the  ancestor.  It  was  a  source  of  apparent  satisfaction  to 
the  grandson  in  his  later  days  to  remind  his  friends  that  his 
family  had  preached  the  gospel  in  an  unbroken  line  for  a  century 
of  years. 

The  first  divine  service  ever  held  within  the  present  limits  of 
the  Monocacy  congregation  was  conducted  by  Elder  Sayler,  at 
Rock  Ridge,  Easter  Monday,  1843.  The  country  was  then  com- 
paratively a  wilderness.  Usually  in  good  weather  the  meetings 
were  held  amid  groves,  and  his  congregation  seated  around  him 
on  the  rocks  or  on  the  trunks  of  fallen  trees.  In  bad  weather  a 
schoolhouse,  now  in  ruins,  was  occupied.  These  were  initial 
meetings  that  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Monocacy  church.  It 
was  then  part  of  the  Beaver  Dam  district.  The  church  was 
organized  in  1856. 

In  the  year  1842  he  began  his  ministerial  labors  in  the  Pleasant 
Hill  or  Monrovia  community,  and  organized  a  congregation  that 
at  the  termination  of  his  work,  which  occurred  when  the  district 
was  divided,  numbered  over  two  hundred  members.  During  all 
this  time,  Elder  Sayler  was  active  in  the  missionary  work  beyond 


392  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

his  congregation.     Some  of  his  pilgrimages  extended  far  down 
the  valley  of  Virginia. 

In  the  sense  of  schools,  Elder  Sayler  was  not  an  educated  man. 
He  was  a  man  of  positive  opinions  and  strong  convictions,  never 
shrinking  from  their  avowal,  and  always  ready  to  maintain  them 
by  argument  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  This  characteristic,  united 
to  a  very  decided  oratorical  ability,  soon  gave  him  a  reputation 
throughout  the  entire  brotherhood.      ( Portrait  78,  group  7.) 

CHRISTOPHER    SAUR,    SR. 

Christopher  Saur,  Sr.,  was  born  at  Laasphe,  a  small  town  in  the 
province  of  Westphalia,  Germany,  1693.  Not  much  is  known  of 
his  early  life.  Some  historians  have  speculated  largely,  antici- 
pating and  drawing  from  imaginations,  forming  entertaining 
chapters  of  interesting  reading  matter  without  much  solid  infor- 
mation. It  may  be  presumed  that  he  grew  to  manhood  much 
as  other  German  boys  with  the  same  environments. 

His  early  home  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Berleberg  and  Schwarz- 
enau,  both  literary  and  ecclesiastical  centers,  and  therefore  amidst 
theological  and  educational  opportunities.  These  should  be  suf- 
ficient for  the  formatory  period  of  a  promising  young  man's  life, 
and  that  they  entered  largely  into  his  make-up  will  be  abundantly 
proven  by  his  future  career.  He  was  married  in  Germany  to  a 
woman  spoken  of  as  Maria  Christina,  at  some  time  in  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Their  only  child  was  born  Sep- 
tember 26,  1821.  He  was  given  the  name  of  his  father,  Chris- 
topher Saur. 

The  next  we  learn  of  the  Saur  family  is  at  Germantown,  Penn- 
sylvania, where  they  landed  toward  the  close  of  the  year  1724. 
They  remained  at  Germantown  nearly  two  years,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1728  removed  to  Millbach  (Mill  Creek),  Lancaster 
County.  Here  the  elder  Saur  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits, 
purchasing  fifty  acres  of  land  in  Leacock  Township.  We  are  not 
told  whether  or  not  he  made  a  success  in  his  rural  pursuits. 

At  this  place  Father  Saur  met  Conrad  Beisel,  whom  he  had 
known  in  Germany  as  a  Separatist.     Beisel  had,  in  the  meantime, 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  393 

joined  the  Tunkers,  and  become  the  head  of  the  Ephratah  settle- 
ment. Up  to  this  time  Mr.  Saur  had  not  attached  himself  to  any 
church,  but  after  attending  the  services  of  Elder  Beisel  for  some 
time,  he  was  baptized  by  him,  on  Whit  Sunday,  1728,  with 
Michael  Eckerlin  and  Jacob  Gass.*  This  being  before  the  sepa- 
ration of  Beisel  and  his  party  as  a  distinct  organization,  we  have 
Christopher  Saur,  Sr.,  in  the  Tunker  Church,  through  the 
administration  of  Conrad  Beisel,  founder  of  the  Seventh-day 
German  Baptists.  It  is  not  material,  however,  that  this  should 
have  occurred  prior  to  the  division  of  the  denomination,  as,  for 
many  years  thereafter,  members  were  received  into  the  German 
Baptist  Church  from  the  Seventh-day  German  Baptists  without 
disfavor.  To  my  own  knowledge,  Barbara  Long,  who  was  bap- 
tized by  the  Seventh-dayers  before  her  marriage  to  my  uncle, 
John  Holsinger,  was  afterward  received  into  the  German  Bap- 
tist Church  without  rebaptism.  Similar  cases  occurred  fre- 
quently in  Morrison's  Cove,  Bedford  County,  where  the  two 
denominations  flourished  from  about  1800  to  1850,  when  the 
seventh-day  people  began  to  decline. 

While  Father  Saur  was  a  church-member,  he  was  also  a  busi- 
ness man,  and  it  is  possible  that  he  kept  the  injunction,  "Not 
slothful  in  business,"  more  diligently  than  that  other  instruction 
as  to  fervency  in  spirit,  which  is  common  to  all  active  business 
men.  It  has  been  reported  that  he  had  never  even  belonged  to 
church,  which,  however,  is  a  mistake.  He  was  not  only  bap- 
tized by  Beisel,  but  participated  in  a  communion  service  at 
Ephratah,  in  1738.  His  wife,  also,  was  an  enthusiastic  member, 
and  through  Beisel's  persuasive  preaching  was  induced  to  leave 
her  family,  and  enter  the  sisters'  house,  or  cloister,  at  Ephratah, 
and  she  became  a  nun,  being  known  as  Sister  Marcella.  Here 
she  remained  until  November,  1744.  Then  she  was  persuaded 
by  her  son  to  return  to  her  home,  but  for  some  time  afterward 
she  simply  assumed  the  duties  of  the  household,  without  taking 
her  place  as  wife  and  mother.     She  was,  however,  fully  reenstated 

*  Chronicon  Ephratense,  pp.  41  and  42. 


394  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

to  her  marital  place  in  the  family  before  her  death,  which  occurred 
December  14,  1752.  After  these  disturbances  in  his  family  rela- 
tions, Brother  Saur  lost  his  interest  in  the  Ephratah  services,  and 
he  and  his  son  returned  to  Germantown. 

ELDER     S.    Z.    SHARP. 

Professor  S.  Z.  Sharp  was  born  at  Airy  Dale,  Huntingdon 
County,  Pennsylvania,  December  21,  1835.  His  boyhood  was 
spent  on  the  farm.  His  common-school  advantages  were  poor, 
yet  at  twelve  years  of  age  he  determined  to  become  a  teacher,  and 
bent  all  his  energies,  during  his  spare  moments,  summer  and 
winter,  to  prepare  himself  for  that  profession.  He  not  only  mas- 
tered all  the  common  branches,  but,  unaided,  made  some  advance- 
ment in  Latin,  Greek,  some  of  the  sciences,  and  higher  mathe- 
matics. At  twenty  he  began  teaching  and  attending  school,  until 
he  graduated  at  the  State  Normal  School  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
i860. 

On  April  1,  1861,  he  bought  and  took  charge  of  Kishacoquillas 
Seminary,  in  Mifflin  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  taught  the  first 
high  school  ever  taught  by  a  Tunker  (excepting  the  effort  of 
Jacob  Miller,  of  Bedford  County),  preceding  Elder  James 
Quinter's  effort  at  New  Vienna,  Ohio,  by  six  months.  During 
the  five  years  he  was  principal  of  this  seminary,  he  had  a  very 
scholarly  Presbyterian  minister  for  an  assistant,  under  whose 
instruction  he  continued  his  studies  in  the  ancient  languages. 
Selling  this  seminary  in  1866,  he  taught  one  year  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania State  Normal  School,  and  then  went  to  Maryville, 
Tennessee,  where  he  established  a  private  normal  school,  with 
marked  success.  After  acting  as  principal  of  this  school  seven 
years,  a  professorship  in  Maryville  College,  Tennessee,  was 
offered  to  him  and  accepted,  which  he  filled  three  years. 

During  the  ten  years  he  was  in  Tennessee  he  preached  nearly 
every  Sunday  in  a  territory  where  the  Tunkers  were  little  known. 
Here  he  soon  organized  a  congregation  and  built  a  commodious 
meeting-house  largely  at  his  own  expense. 

When  Ashland  College  was  projected  in  Ohio,  he  was  called 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  395 

on  to  assist  in  raising  the  money  to  build  it,  and  to  become  its  first 
president.  In  September,  1879,  he  opened  school,  with  an  attend- 
ance of  sixty  students,  and  raised  the  number  enrolled  to  one 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  the  next  year.  His  policy  and  that  of 
the  trustees  not  being  in  harmony,  he  resigned  his  position  here, 
and  accepted  the  chair  of  mental  and  moral  science  in  Mount 
Morris  College,  Illinois,  and  also  acted  as  chairman  of  the 
faculty.  After  teaching  here  seven  years  he  was  called  to  the 
presidency  of  McPherson  College,  Kansas,  for  nine  years,  which 
institution  he  organized  and  built  up  until  it  reached  an  enroll- 
ment of  three  hundred  and  eighty-seven  regular  students. 

In  February,  1897,  Plattsburg  College,  Missouri,  was  pur- 
chased by  brethren,  and  Professor  Sharp  called  to  be  its  presi- 
dent, which  position  he  now  holds,  in  the  forty-sixth  year  of  his 
career  as  a  teacher. 

While  actively  engaged  in  teaching  and  preaching,  he  also 
devoted  himself  to  special  departments  of  science,  taking  a  course 
in  geology  under  Professor  Shaler,  of  Harvard  University,  and 
spent  some  time  in  original  investigation  of  this  subject.  In 
1876  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  "American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,"  and  in  1895,  one  of  the  two  state 
geologists  of  Kansas.  He  was  also  elected  a  member  of  the 
Kansas  Academy  of  Science.  In  school  work  he  makes  Bible 
instruction  a  specialty,  and  holds  Bible  normal  institute,  also  con- 
ducts Bible  instruction  by  correspondence.  He  received  the 
degree  A.  M.,  of  Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvania,  and  LL.  D.,  of 
Mount  Morris,  Illinois. 

Elder  S.  Z.  Sharp's  parents  and  relatives  were  Mennonites. 
In  his  study  of  the  Greek  language  while  at  school,  he  became 
convinced  that  trine  immersion  was  the  gospel  mode  of  baptism. 
This  led  him  to  unite  with  the  Tunker  Church,  in  1861.  He  was 
elected  to  the  ministry  in  1863,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  to  the  elder- 
ship in  1868,  in  Tennessee. 

On  March  26,  1879,  he  published  Our  Sunday-School,  the  first 
Sunday-school  periodical  published  by  a  Tunker.  For  this  he 
prepared  the  Sunday-school  lessons,  issued  weekly.     The  circu- 


396  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

lation  reached  over  three  thousand  in  six  weeks,  and  five  thou- 
sand within  a  year.  Next  year  he  bought  the  Children  at  Work, 
and  united  the  Young  Disciple  with  his  paper.  The  combined 
issue  reached  a  circulation  of  over  thirteen  thousand,  and  sup- 
plied nearly  four  hundred  Sunday-schools  among  the  Brethren 
Churches,  during  the  second  year. 

He  also  prepared  the  lessons  for  the  Brethren  s  Quarterly 
when  first  started,  and  discontinued  only  on  account  of  too  much 
other  work.      ( Portrait  8,  group  i . ) 

ELDER    THOMAS    G.     SNYDER. 

Elder  Thomas  G.  Snyder  was  born  in  Stark  County,  Ohio,  in 
December,  1825.  In  1846  he  was  married  to  Esther  B.  Stifler, 
and  located  in  Blair  County,  Pennsylvania.  There  he  united 
with  the  German  Baptist  Church,  and  shortly  afterward  was 
chosen  to  serve  as  a  deacon. 

In  1854  he  and  family  left  Pennsylvania  for  the  far  west,  and, 
after  a  tedious  journey,  they  arrived  in  Linn  County,  Iowa,  April 
15.  He  and  his  wife  were  the  first  members  of  the  German  Bap- 
tist Church  in  said  county.  The  first  love-feast  was  held  in  his 
barn  in  the  fall  of  1856,  when  he  was  called  to  the  ministry.  His 
wife  died  July  18,  1876.  On  November  8,  1877,  he  was  married 
to  Catharine  Miller. 

About  1888  he  was  ordained  to  the  full  ministry.  He  was 
industrious,  economical,  and  prosperous,  and  an  exemplary 
Christian.  On  the  morning  of  October  31,  1899,  he  arose  as 
usual,  and  ate  a  hearty  breakfast.  About  eight  o'clock  he 
dropped  to  the  floor  and  passed  away. 

ELDER   D.    B.    STURGIS,    M.    D. 

The  parents  of  Daniel  B.  Sturgis  settled  in  Delaware  before 
the  Revolutionary  War,  but  soon  after  emigrated  to  Tennessee. 
Daniel  was  born  at  Maryville,  Tennessee,  June  17,  181 1.  Dur- 
ing his  childhood  his  parents  located  near  Dayton,  Ohio.  In 
182 1  they  removed  to  Sangamon  County,  Illinois,  near  Spring- 
field,.then  a  small  village  of  a  few  cabins.     He  was  the  youngest 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  397 

of  the  family,  and  his  father  died  when  Daniel  was  thirteen  years 
of  age.  He  labored  on  a  farm,  and  helped  to  raise  the  family. 
He  obtained  an  education  mostly  by  the  light  of  an  old-fashioned 
fireplace.  Then,  by  diligent  application  and  nine  months  of 
instruction  in  the  subscription  school,  he  was  enabled  to  master 
everything  taught  in  those  days,  and  to  take  a  degree  of  M.  D., 
by  the  use  of  books.  His  parents  were  Episcopalians,  but  by 
association  he  joined  the  Calvinistic  Baptists.  He  used  to  relate 
his  troubles  in  accepting  the  doctrine  of  approbation,  and  that  it 
almost  drove  him  into  infidelity.  He  read  Payne's  "Age  of  Rea- 
son" and  Voltaire's  works. 

When  quite  a  young  man  he  became  acquainted  with  Elder 
I  sham  Gibson.  About  the  year  1830,  he  inquired  of  Elder  Gib- 
son in  regard  to  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Tunker  Church,  and 
especially  asked  to  see  their  creed  and  discipline.  Elder  Gibson 
handed  him  a  small  book,  which  he  always  kept  near  him  for  any 
emergency.  Sturgis  looked  at  the  book  a  moment,  and  then 
handed  it  back,  with  the  remark,  "You  gave  me  the  wrong  book : 
this  is  a  New  Testament."  "True,"  remarked  the  elder;  "it 
is  the  only  creed,  guide,  and  discipline  God  ever  gave  to  the 
church,  and  it  is  all  I  believe,  teach,  or  enforce." 

This  seemed  to  satisfy  him,  and  he  and  his  wife  were  baptized 
by  Elder  Gibson. 

He  served  as  a  deacon  for  a  short  time,  and  was  then  called  to 
the  ministry.  He  was  ordained  a  bishop  September  n,  1841,  by 
Elders  George  Wolfe  and  Isham  Gibson.  The  following  is  his 
certificate  of  ordination  : — 

"To  whom  these  presents  may  come,  greeting: 

"This  is  to  certify  that,  at  a  meeting  appointed  at  the  house  of 
Brother  Isham  Gibson,  at  Apple  Creek,  Morgan  County,  Illinois, 
at  the  request  of  the  church,  Brother  Daniel  B.  Sturgis  was 
ordained  a  bishop  of  the  church  or  fraternity  of  Baptists,  by  lay- 
ing on  of  hands  of  the  presbytery,  on  the  nth  day  of  September, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1841.  Given  under  our  hand,  day  and 
date  above  written.  George  Wolfe, 

Isham  Gibson/' 


398  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Elder  Sturgis  held  a  number  of  debates  on  religious  subjects. 
The  first  was  with  a  Mormon  elder,  during  the  great  Nauvoo 
trouble,  in  the  early  forties. 

Being  a  member  of  the  Far  Western  Brethren,  he  used  all  his 
energies  to  bring  about  the  union  with  the  general  brotherhood. 
He  also  served  on  a  number  of  important  committees,  and 
attended  twenty-seven  annual  meetings,  and  thirty-one  district 
conferences.  The  first  district  meeting  in  southern  Illinois  was 
held  at  his  house,  in  1863.  He  had  an  excellent  voice  for  a 
preacher,  but  spoke  in  a  cadence  style.  With  a  little  imagination 
I  can  still  hear  him  preaching,  as  I  heard  him  at  a  distance  of 
perhaps  twenty  rods  in  the  open  air,  at  the  annual  meeting,  in 
Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  1859. 

Doctor  Sturgis  had  an  excellent  reputation  as  a  physician,  and 
was  widely  known  as  a  skilful  practitioner. 

He  died  at  Mulberry  Grove,  Illinois,  March  16,  1897,  aged 
eighty-five  years  eight  months  and  twenty  days. 

These  facts  were  supplied  for  this  work  by  his  son-in-law, 
Elder  D.  B.  Gibson,  of  Cerro  Gordo,  Illinois.  (Portrait  7, 
group  1). 

ELDER     MICHAEL    THOMAS. 

Michael  Thomas  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania, 
January  18,  1804.  He  was  one  of  a  family  of  fifteen  children, 
twelve  of  whom  attained  to  manhood,  and  whose  combined  ages 
aggregated  nine  hundred  and  twenty-two  years  in  1898.  Brother 
Thomas  was  twice  married,  and  was  the  father  of  sixteen  chil- 
dren, one  hundred  grandchildren,  one  hundred  eighty-one  great- 
grandchildren, and  fourteen  great-great-grandchildren.  Total 
descendants,  three  hundred  and  fourteen.  He  was  a  minister  of 
the  old-style  Tunker  brethren  for  many  years.  His  energy  and 
labor  were  confined  to  his  local  church.  He  died  and  was  buried 
on  the  farm  on  which  he  had  lived  many  years,  in  Fayette  County, 
Pennsylvania,  July  28,  1898,  in  his  ninety-fifth  year. 

ELDER   JOHN    H.    UMSTAD. 

We  had  the  pleasure  of  a  personal  acquaintance  with  Brother 
Umstad,  and  of  laboring  with  him  at  several  communion  meet- 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL. 


399 


ings  in  1872.  He  was  an  original  character,  and  in  some  partic- 
ulars, quite  peculiar.  He  had  a  few  favorite  texts,  from  which 
he  preached  quite  frequently.  One  of  them  was,  "Mene,  mene, 
tekel,  upharsin."     Dan.  5  :  25.     From  this  we  heard  him  speak 


ELDER    JOHN     H.     UMSTAD 

several  times,  and  he  handled  it  well.  He  was  fond  of  fishing, 
and  it  is  said  of  him  that,  once  upon  a  time,  while  holding  meet- 
ings in  Huntingdon  County,  Pennsylvania,  he  was  out  fishing, 
and  tarried  rather  late  in  the  evening,  so  that  when  he  arrived, 
the  meeting  had  been  opened.  He  was  so  informed,  and  immedi- 
ately he  stepped  before  the  audience  and  said,  "I  go  a-fishing." 


4-00 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


This  was  his  text,  and  we  are  told  that  he  preached  a  good  sermon 
from  it. 

Brother  Umstad  was  by  nature  almost  a  Christian,  having  a 
kind,  companionable  disposition,  not  only  toward  his  relatives  and 
friends,  but  toward  all  men.  He  was  very  courteous  in  his  own 
way,  but  cared  little  for  conventionalities.  On  being  introduced 
to  a  young  person,  one  of  the  first  things  he  was  likely  to  say  was, 
"Does  thee  love  Jesus?" 

On  one  occasion  when  taking  leave  of  him  in  the  cars, — a  rail- 
road coach, — I  offered  him  my  hand,  but  he  rose  and  said. 
"Brother  Henry,  I  want  to  kiss  thee,"  and  we  saluted  each  other, 
I  sincerely  believe,  with  a  kiss  of  love. 

These  incidents  are  related  to  enable  our  readers  who  were  not 
personally  acquainted  with  the  patriarchs  of  the  brotherhood,  to 
form  an  accurate  conception  of  their  personality. 

Our  portrait  is  from  a  photograph,  and  is  a  very  exact  like- 
ness of  Elder  Umstad.  He  was  born  in  Montgomery  County, 
Pennsylvania,  January  I,  1802.  He  was  not  religiously  brought 
up,  but  received  a  fair  education,  such  as  the  common  schools  of 
the  locality  afforded.  In  1829  he  married  Miss  Ann,  daughter 
of  Daniel  and  Frances  Brower,  and  sister  of  Abraham,  Christian, 
and  Daniel  R.  Brower.  They  had  four  children,  one  son  (who 
died  in  infancy)  and  three  daughters. 

From  1830  to  1840  was  a  period  of  extensive  revivals  of 
religion  all  over  this  region  of  country,  in  which  all  evangelical 
sects  more  or  less  participated.  In  the  fall  of  1831  a  great 
awakening,  conducted  by  the  brethren,  commenced  in  the  neigh- 
borhood where  the  subject  of  this  notice  lived.  His  sister,  Mrs. 
Isabella  Fitzwater,  already  belonged  to  the  church,  but  being  of 
a  lively  disposition  and  fond  of  worldly  enjoyments,  he  had  not, 
up  to  that  time,  given  religion  any  attention.  His  sister  was 
very  devoted,  and  deeply  concerned  for  her  brother,  and  was 
instrumental  in  bringing  him  within  the  influence  of  the  revival. 
The  result  of  a  series  of  meetings  was  that  Sister  Fitzwater's 
husband,  her  brother,  J.  H.  Umstad,  and  Elder  Isaac  Price  were 
converted  and  baptized.     The  inroad  made  upon  the  society  of  the 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  40I 

neighborhood  opened  the  way  for  the  organization  of  a  church  in 
the  locality.  In  1834  Green  Tree  church  was  built  on  land 
belonging  to  or  adjoining  Elder  Umstad,  and  he  and  Isaac  Price 
were  ordained  ministers. 

Brother  Umstad's  labors  in  winning  souls  were  very  success- 
ful. The  cheerfulness  of  his  Christianity,  added  to  his  natural 
vivacity,  made  him  an  agreeable  companion,  and  when  in  private 
company  with  his  friends,  he  seldom  failed  to  use  the  opportunity 
of  recommending  Christ  to  them,  which  was  often  done  success- 
fully. In  his  public  preaching  he  was  warm  and  pointed,  and 
his  direct  appeals  to  sinners  were  often  very  strong. 

He  wras  blunt  and  outspoken  even  to  eccentricity,  but  these 
qualities  were  but  a  spice  to  his  exuberant  honesty  and  kind- 
ness of  heart.  Soon  after  his  union  with  the  church,  he  laid 
aside  his  fashionable  attire,  and  conformed  to  the  habit  of  the 
church  in  dress. 

He  preached  his  last  sermon  to  the  people  of  his  charge  on 
April  13,  1873,  and  left  home  on  the  15th,  to  visit  his  daughter 
and  her  family  at  Baltimore,  Maryland.  Here,  on  the  27th  of 
the  same  month,  he  expired,  and  his  remains  were  interred  in  the 
cemetery  of  the  church  he  had  helped  to  found  many  years 
before. 

ELDER    GEORGE     WOLFE. 

Elder  George  Wolfe  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, April  25,  1780.  His  parents  were  both  members  of  the 
Tunker  Church,  and  of  German  descent.  His  father,  whose 
name  was  also  George,  was  an  elder  in  the  church  at  the  time  his 
son  George  was  born.  He  had  one  other  son,  whose  name  was 
Jacob.  When  the  subject  of  our  sketch  was  about  seven  years 
old,  his  parents  moved  across  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  settling 
near  Uniontown,  the  county  seat  of  Fayette  County.  This  was 
in  the  year  1787.  This  Elder  Wolfe,  Sr.,  is  said  to  have  been 
the  first  ordained  elder  who  settled  west  of  the  mountains. 

In  the  vear  1800,  Elder  Wolfe  with  his  family,  started  down 
the  Ohio  River,  landing  in  Muhlenburgh  County,  Kentucky,  near 
26 


4-02  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

the  middle  of  the  western  part  of  the  state.  There  were  other 
members  of  the  church  in  Kentucky  at  that  time,  but  how  many 
we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  They  emigrated  from  North 
Carolina  in  an  early  day.  Elder  Casper  Rolland  was  the  first 
minister  to  settle  in  the  state,  and  Elder  John  Hendricks,  of 
North  Carolina,  the  next. 

It  was  in  the  year  1800  that  Elder  George  Wolfe  landed  in 
Kentucky,  March  3,  1803.  His  son  George,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  married  to  Anna  Hunsicker,  the  only  young,  unmar- 
ried woman  in  the  community.  A  young  lawyer  sought  her  hand, 
and  threatened  to  severely  punish  the  young  farmer  for  winning 
the  heart  of  his  expected  bride.  George  reasoned  with  him,  telling 
him  the  lady  had  her  choice,  and  made  the  selection  of  her  own  free 
will,  that  the  "knot  was  tied,"  and  there  was  no  use  in  making 
trouble  over  it.  Reason  would  not  satisfy  the  young  attorney, 
and,  in  regular  western  parlance,  he  told  Wolfe  that  he  could 
prepare  himself  for  a  good  thrashing. 

Seeing  that  the  lawyer  could  not  be  satisfied  with  reason  and 
good  common  sense,  George,  who  was  a  man  of  large  bodily  pro- 
portions, great  strength,  and  inured  to  the  hardships  of  a  frontier 
life,  told  him  plainly  that  he  had  married  the  woman  in  good 
faith,  and  that  if  he  thought  a  little  spindling  lawyer  could 
handle  a  strong,  robust  farmer  like  himself,  he  was  at  liberty 
to  have  his  satisfaction.  The  lawyer  never  troubled  George 
any  more. 

Five  years  later,  in  1808,  young  George  and  his  brother  Jacob 
emigrated  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Union  County.  Jacob 
Wolfe  was  the  father  of  Elder  George  Wolfe,  of  California. 

The  next  year,  1809,  the  Elder  George  Wolfe,  Sr.,  whose 
home  was  still  in  Kentucky,  traveled  through  southwestern  Mis- 
souri and  southern  Illinois  on  a  preaching  tour,  and  on  his  way 
home  took  sick  at  the  old  town  of  Kaskaskia,  about  fifty  miles 
northwest  of  where  his  two  sons  were  living,  and  died  and  was 
buried  at  that  place.  His  death  was  probably  the  first  among 
the  members  in  the  state. 

In  the  year   181 1   occurred  the  remarkable  earthquake  in  the 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  403 

Mississippi  Valley,  which  lasted  six  months.  The  convulsions 
of  the  earth  were  so  great  as  to  create  lakes  and  islands.  Deep 
chasms  were  formed  in  the  earth,  from  which  vast  volumes  of 
water,  sand,  and  even  coal,  were  thrown  to  the  height  of  nearly 
one  hundred  feet.  It  was  a  year  of  intense  excitement  and  great 
religious  awakening  in  the  west.  The  Methodists  held  a  revival 
in  the  Wolfe  neighborhood,  and  George,  being  of  a  religious  turn 
of  mind,  united  with  them,  there  being  ten  others  who  professed 
conversion  at  the  same  time.  Brother  Wolfe  was  appointed 
their  class  leader.  He  had  a  good  knowledge  of  the  brethren 
and  their  doctrine,  but  up  to  this  time  had  made  no  profession. 

He  had  taken  his  conversion  and  appointment  as  class-leader 
quite  seriously,  and  the  first  time  the  class  met,  he  took  his  place 
as  their  leader,  and  addressed  the  members  of  his  class  as  fol- 
lows :  "Brethren  and  sisters,  we  are  now  organized  into  a  class. 
I  have  pondered  and  prayed  over  the  matter,  and  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  if  John  Wesley  is  the  Saviour,  we  are  all  right, 
but  if  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Saviour,  then  we  are  all  wrong." 

This  speech  from  the  bold  young  class-leader  sent  a  thrill  of 
horror  through  the  hearts  of  the  members  of  the  newly-formed 
class.  They  said,  "Jesus  Christ  is  our  Saviour,"  and  in  amaze- 
ment they  asked,  "But  what  shall  we  do?"  Brother  Wolfe  said, 
"Let  us  send  to  Kentucky  for  a  Tunker  preacher  to  come  and 
baptize  us."  A  young  man  by  the  name  of  Hunsicker,  Wolfe's 
brother-in-law,  was  immediately  started  to  Kentucky,  a  distance 
of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  On  the  road  he  met 
Elder  John  Hendricks,  who  was  on  ;.  visit  of  love  to  his  friends 
in  Union  County.  His  arrival  was  hailed  with  joy,  for  the 
harvest  was  fully  ripe.  He  held  meetings,  and  baptized  the 
entire  class  in  Clear  Creek,  there  being  about  fourteen  in  all, 
including  the  two  Wolfe  brothers  and  their  wives.  Brother 
George  was  the  first  one  to  enter  the  water.  He  was  probably 
the  first  person  ever  baptized  by  the  brethren  in  the  state.  This 
was  in  the  year  1812,  at  which  time  George  was  thirty-two  years 
old. 

The  same  year  the  little  band  was  called  together  and  organ- 


404  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

ized  by  selecting  George  for  the  ministry  and  his  brother  Jacob 
for  the  deacon's  office.  Brother  George  entered  earnestly  upon 
the  active  duties  of  the  ministry,  being  the  only  minister  in  Illinois 
or  Missouri. 

The  next  year,  181 3,  Brother  Wolfe  was  ordained  to  the  elder- 
ship by  Elder  John  Hochstettler  and  Hahn,  of  Kentucky.  This 
was  the  first  ordination  among  the  brethren  in  Illinois. 

October  17,  18 18,  James  Hendricks  was  ordained  to  the  elder- 
ship by  Elder  George  Wolfe.  This  was  the  first  ordination  in 
Missouri. 

Under  the  able  preaching  of  Elder  Wolfe  the  churches  in  Illinois 
and  Missouri  prospered  greatly.  He  and  Brother  James  Hen- 
dricks, of  Missouri,  were  fast  friends,  and  were  much  together  in 
their  traveling,  preaching,  and  church  work. 

The  first  love-feast  ever  held  in  Missouri  was  about  the  year 
1 810,  or  about  two  years  before  Elder  George  Wolfe  united  with 
the  church.  It  was  held  under  the  direction  of  Elder  John 
Hendricks. 

Elder  Wolfe  continued  his  labors  in  Union  County  for  about 
nineteen  years,  traveling  and  preaching  much,  and  became  widely 
known.  Many  remarkable  things  are  related  of  him,  one  of 
which  is  that  he  held  a  public  debate  with  a  Roman  Catholic  priest 
in  the  town  of  Kaskaskia.  The  place  had  been  a  Catholic  strong- 
hold for  more  than  a  hundred  years.  The  debate  created  a 
wonderful  excitement.  It  was  attended  by  the  governor  of  the 
state,  who  afterwards  said  of  Elder  Wolfe,  :TTe  is  the  profoundest 
man,  for  an  illiterate  man,  I  ever  heard."  So  crushing  were 
Brother  Wolfe's  arguments  against  Catholicism,  so  powerful 
were  his  appeals  for  primitive  Christianity,  so  complete  was  his 
victory  over  his  opponent,  and  so  thoroughly  did  he  arouse  the 
Catholic  hatred,  that  his  life  was  greatly  in  jeopardy.  At  that 
time  a  company  of  soldiers  was  stationed  at  Kaskaskia,  and  the 
governor,  unknown  to  Brother  Wolfe,  had  detailed  a  number  of 
soldiers  to  protect  him  on  his  homeward  journey.  When  he 
mounted  his  horse  to  leave  the  place,  he  was  greatly  surprised  to 
find  himself  surrounded  bv  a  band  of  cavalrv,  with  drawn  swords, 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  405 

whose  officer  explained  to  Elder  Wolfe  that  he  had  orders  to 
accompany  and  protect  him  on  his  journey.  After  guarding  him 
a  safe  distance  from  the  town,  the  soldiers  returned. 

In  August,  183 1,  Elder  George  Wolfe  emigrated,  with  a  num- 
ber of  his  members,  to  Adams  County,  Illinois,  and  settled  near 
the  present  town  of  Liberty.  A  love-feast  was  held  in  September 
of  the  same  year,  being  the  first  feast  held  by  the  brethren  in  that 
county. 

After  settling  in  Adams  County,  he  traveled  very  extensively, 
mostly  on  horseback.  He  is  known  to  have  visited  the  churches 
in  Morgan,  Sangamon,  and  Macuopin  Counties  every  year  for 
over  thirty  years.  In  1858  the  ferryman  at  Naples,  Illinois, 
speaking  of  Elder  Wolfe,  said,  "I  have  ferried  that  man  over  the 
river  nearly  every  year  for  twenty-five  years." 

In  appearance  he  was  almost  a  giant,  being  nearly  six  feet 
and  a  half  tall,  and  weighing  about  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-five pounds.  He  had  a  very  large  head,  arched  eye- 
brows, a  high,  broad  forehead,  and  wore  a  long  white  beard. 
A  powerful  and  erect  form  contributed  to  his  commanding 
appearance.  In  manners  he  was  as  gentle  as  a  child,  and 
vet  as  bold  as  a  lion.  He  knew  no  fear.  He  was  a  great 
reader,  and  possessed  a  wonderful  stock  of  information,  which 
was  always  at  his  command.  As  a  reasoner  his  resources 
seemed  unlimited.  Colonel  Richardson,  of  Ouincy,  said  he 
regarded  Elder  Wolfe  as  one  of  the  profoundest  thinkers  the 
state  of  Illinois  ever  had.  Elder  Gibson  says,  "His  manner  of 
preaching,  like  his  presence,  was  commanding." 

In  one  of  his  last  sermons  he  said :  "I  have  preached  the 
gospel  for  over  fifty  years.  I  labored  much  when  Illinois  was 
a  wilderness.  My  work  is  now  nearly  done.  I  have,  like  Paul, 
finished  my  course,  and  when  eternity  shall  dawn,  and  as  I  gaze 
with  enraptured  vision  on  the  mighty  hosts  of  the  redeemed, 
if,  in  that  mighty  throng,  one  soul  shall  be  numbered  with  the 
blest  because  I  worked,  prayed,  and  preached,  I  shall  be  fully 
repaid  for  all  my  labors  here." 

November   16,   1865,  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of    his    age,  he 


406  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

quietly  closed  his  labors  on  earth,  and  was  buried  near  Liberty, 
Adams  County,  Illinois.  He  was  the  father  of  eight  children,  six 
sons  and  two  daughters. 

It  is  related  that  word  was  brought  to  him  that  a  mass-meeting 
was  to  be  held  in  the  western  part  of  Indiana,  at  which  the  ablest 
ministers  to  be  found  in  the  wilds  of  the  west  were  to  deliver 
addresses,  setting  forth  what  they  considered  to  be  the  best 
religion  for  a  pioneer  life.  Elder  Wolfe  resolved  to  attend  that 
meeting  and  address  the  assembly  in  behalf  of  his  church.  He 
started  on  horseback,  his  usual  way  of  traveling,  and,  after  a 
long  journey,  reached  the  immense,  rudely-constructed  house  in 
the  woods,  where  the  meeting  was  to  be  held.  A  vast  concourse 
of  people  had  already  assembled,  and  the  house  was  then  filled. 
Wolfe's  fine  appearance  and  venerable  looks  attracted  attention 
at  once.  He  was  a  stranger,  of  course,  but  everybody  seemed  to 
know  that  he  was  a  preacher. 

To  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  the  people,  he  was  invited  to  deliver 
the  first  address.  His  mind  was  well  prepared  for  the  task.  It 
is  said  that  for  hours  he  held  that  vast  assembly  of  hardy  pio- 
neers, who  listened  intently,  and  drank  eagerly  everything  he 
presented  in  behalf  of  the  religion  which  his  people  had  accepted, 
and  which  he  considered  so  eminently  adapted  to  the  wants  of 
a  frontier  life.  It  is  further  related  that,  after  he  had  finished 
his  discourse,  not  another  preacher  ventured,  in  his  presence,  to 
present  a  contrary  view.  He  had  made  it  clear  that  the  simple 
form  of  religion,  as  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament,  if  taken  in 
all  its  parts,  was  perfectly  adapted  to  all  the  necessary  conditions 
of  mankind,  in  every  age  and  in  every  clime,  and,  of  course,  to 
the  man  and  his  family  on  the  frontier  as  well. 

PETER    R.    WRIGHTSMAN. 

P.  R.  Wrightsman  was  born  about  the  year  1835,  in  East  Ten- 
nessee. He  was  converted  when  twenty  years  of  age,  while 
alone  at  work,  with  rather  a  remarkable  spiritual  experience. 
Soon  after  his  conversion  he  attended  a  Baptist  revival  meeting. 
The  minister,  having  learned  of  his  spiritual  condition,  invited 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL. 


407 


him  to  join  his  church,  offering  him  inducements   which  were 
very  tempting  to  young  Wrightsman,  who  was  then  exceedingly 
anxious  to  obtain  a  liberal  education.     But  Peter  had  been  read- 
ing the  New  Testament  as  a  text-book  in  school,  and,  having  a 
retentive  memory,  he  committed  most  of  it ;  so  he  excused  him- 
self, by  saying  that  he  did  not  consider  himself  a  fit  subject  for 
church     fellowship,     that     so 
many  joined  the  church  and 
afterwards  became  stumbling- 
blocks  to  others  and  brought 
disgrace  to  the  cause.    Peter's 
father  was  a  pious,  spiritual- 
minded,        Scripture-reading, 
devoted  Tunker  brother.    His 
mother  was   a  noble  woman, 
a  member  of  the  Missionary 
Baptist  Church,  as  were  also 
four     of     his     sisters.       This 
brought    our    young    convert 
into    a    strait    between     two 
ideas,  and  under  the  influence 
of  different  views  of  influen- 
tial parents,   in  whose  Chris- 
tianity he   had   the  most   im- 
plicit confidence.     So  he  took 
the    matter    to    the    Lord    in 
prayer.      Day    and    night    he 
prayed:   "Lord,   Thou   know- 

est  where  I  may  best  glorify  Thy  name.  Thou  didst  direct  Thine 
ancient  people  in  answer  to  their  prayers.  Do  Thou,  dear  Lord, 
influence  me,  and  direct  me  where  I  shall  unite  with  the  people  of 
God.  Lead  me;  and,  where  Thou  leadest,  I  will  follow."  The 
Lord  must  have  heard  him,  for,  on  the  first  Sunday  in  May,  1853, 
his  youngest  brother,  John,  who  was  converted  about  the  same 
time,  and  two  of  his  sisters  and  himself,  were  baptized  by  trine 
immersion,  and  received  into  the  Tunker  Church. 


DR.     P.     R.     WRIGHTSMAN 


408  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

In  i860  he  was  elected  to  the  ministry,  while  yet  unmarried 
and  unlearned.  He  was  still  laboring  to  obtain  an  education,  and 
trying  to  do  the  best  in  the  ministry,  laboring  with  his  own  hands 
at  grading  railroad  track  for  his  bodily  support. 

In  1863  many  of  our  brethren  were  shut  up  in  prison  for  refus- 
ing to  fight,  although  they  had  complied  with  military  require- 
ments. The  law  had  provided  that  all  Christians  who  were  con- 
scientiously opposed  to  bearing  arms  should  be  exempted  from 
military  service,  by  paying  the  Confederate  authorities  $300  per 
capita,  in  Confederate  money,  which  our  brethren  did.  But  men 
were  getting  scarce,  and  many  of  our  brethren  were  dragged  off 
and  forced  into  the  army.  The  church  at  Limestone,  Tennessee, 
desiring  to  care  for  its  membership,  met  in  council,  and  decided 
to  get  up  a  petition  and  send  it  to  the  Confederate  congress,  pray- 
ing that  body  to  release  our  members  from  bearing  arms,  aver- 
ring our  non-resistant  principles.  Brother  Wrightsman  was 
chosen  to  carry  the  petition  to  the  seat  of  government. 

When  he  set  out  upon  his  mission,  he  found  the  train  loaded 
with  southern  soldiers.  At  Jonesboro  a  Methodist  minister  came 
into  the  car  and  took  his  seat  by  the  side  of  Brother  Wrights- 
man.  From  this  point  we  will  permit  Brother  Wrightsman  to 
tell  his  own  story,  as  related  in  the  Brethren's  Almanac  for  1871. 

"Presently  he  asked  me  whether  I  was  not  a  minister.  I  told 
him  I  was.  He  inquired  of  what  persuasion.  I  told  him  the 
Brethren.  He  wanted  to  know  what  we  believed,  and,  in  enumer- 
ating to  him  different  points,  I  mentioned  non-resistance.  'And 
do  you  not  believe,'  said  he,  'that  it  is  right  to  fight  for  our  glori- 
ous Confederacy  ?'  To  which  I  replied,  'No ;  for  the  Savior  has 
said,  "Put  thy  sword  into  its  sheath,"  and  we  are  to  love  and  do 
good  to  our  enemies."  (Soldiers  in  Confederate  uniforms  were 
thick  around.) 

"Methodist :  'Then  do  you  not  think  General  Washington  was 
a  good  man  ?' 

"'My  Bible,  sir,  does  not  say  anything  about  Washington.' 

"Methodist :  'Well,  do  you  not  think  that  God  set  up  this  gov- 
ernment by  Washington  ?' 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  409 

"  'Yes,'  said  I,  'but  does  not  God  use  one  wicked  nation  to 
scourge  another,  and  make  use  of  individuals  to  carry  out  His 
purposes,  and  yet  they  be  wicked?  And  do  you  not  think  Gen- 
eral Washington  was  a  good  man,  and  that  God  set  up  this  gov- 
ernment by  him?' 

"Methodist :  'Yes,  I  do  believe  it.' 

"Then  said  I,  'What  do  you  think  will  become  of  you  Con- 
federates who  are  trying  to  pull  down  and  destroy  what  God  has 
built  up?' 

"And  they  went  their  way,  being  condemned. 

"The  soldiers  standing  around  us  during  this  conversation 
threatened  my  life.  They  said  one  to  another,  'Shoot  him,'  'Spear 
him,'  'Bay  him ;'  but  none  of  those  things  moved  me.  I  felt  that 
the  Lord  was  with  me,  'strong  to  deliver,  and  mighty  to  save.' 
But  I  proceeded  on  to  Richmond,  then  the  capital  of  the  Con- 
federacy, presented  my  petition,  and  made  my  speech.  I  told 
them  we  would  not  fight,  because  the  Captain  of  our  salvation 
commanded  us,  'Thou  shalt  not  kill ;'  and  if  we  were  taken  to  the 
battle-field,  we  would  be  in  their  way,  and  an  expense  to  them ; 
that  'we  are  the  best  subjects  of  our  government ;  we  stay  at  home, 
mind  our  business ;  we  never  disturb  nor  bushwhack  your  men. 
Our  people  are  mostly  farmers.  They  raise  grain,  and  your  men 
come  and  take  it,  and  we  do  not  resist.  We  are  the  best  subjects 
in  your  government ;  but  fight  our  fellow-man  wre  will  not.' 

"They  granted  my  petition,  and  I  came  home,  went  to  Knox- 
ville,  and  turned  our  brethren  out  of  prison.  To  God  we  give 
all  the  glory. 

"After  the  war,  and  in  1867,  I  married  Elizabeth  Witter,  at 
South  Bend,  Indiana.  We  both  went  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in 
1867,  where  I  graduated  from  the  Eclectic  Medical  College ; 
thence  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  where  the  Lord  blessed  my  ministry  in 
the  city.  Praise  His  name.  After  three  years  we  moved  to 
South  Bend,  Indiana.  Here  the  Lord  blessed  my  labor  in  busi- 
ness and  in  the  church.  There  I  was  ordained  to  the  eldership 
in  1875,  by  Elder  James  Miller.  Here  I  lived  with  my  family 
ten  years,  until  my  health  failed.     I  then  moved  to  Kansas,  and 


4IO  HISTORY     OF    THE'    TUNKERS. 

thence  to  Georgia,  on  account  of  our  daughter's  failing  health, 
where  she  has  much  improved. 

"I  am  still  preaching  the  gospel.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  for  all 
His  mercies." 

DANIEL     WRIGHTSMAN. 

Daniel  Wrightsman,  father  of  Dr.  P.  R.  Wrightsman,  was  one 
of  the  old  brethren  of  southwestern  Virginia.  October,  1849, 
he  moved  to  east  Tennessee.  He  was  one  of  the  best  scriptorians 
in  the  brotherhood.  He  was  elected  to  the  ministry  in  his  church 
on  the  headwaters  of  Roanoke  River ;  but  because  his  wife  was 
not  a  sister  in  the  church,  but  a  worthy  Baptist,  the  elder  ruled 
that,  as  Brother  Wrightsman's  wife  was  not  a  member,  he 
thought  best  not  to  install  him ;  that  he  might  come  home  some- 
times cold  or  hungry,  and  his  wife  would  probably  not  arise  to 
comfort  him.  So  the  elder  suggested  that  his  son-in-law  be  the 
choice ;  and  so  it  was  done. 

Such  ruling  very  much  discouraged  Brother  Wrightsman.  As 
was  his  custom,  he  took  it  to  the  Lord  in  prayer.  The  Holy 
Spirit  comforted  him,  and  signified  to  him  that  he  did  well  that 
he  had  it  in  his  heart ;  and,  while  he  did  not  exercise  his  gift, 
God  would  raise  up  out  of  his  loins  sons  who  would  preach  the 
gospel.  Two  of  his  sons,  Peter  and  John,  became  preachers. 
Brother  Daniel  kept  up  the  family  altar,  did  strictly  as  he  would 
have  others  do  to  him,  and  died  happy. 

PROFESSOR   JACOB   M.    ZUCK. 

Prof.  Jacob  M.  Zuck  was  born  near  Mercersburg,  Franklin 
County,  Pennsylvania,  Oct.  29,  1846.  He  was  the  son  of  Jacob 
and  Susannah  Zuck.  When  he  was  18  years  old  he  had  a  fall 
in  which  he  displaced  the  knee-cap  of  the  right  leg,  and  by  mal- 
practice he  became  lamed  for  life.  He  first  walked  with  two 
crutches,  but  finally  became  able  to  walk  with  a  cane.  Soon  after 
he  took  white  swelling  in  the  same  limb,  which  grew  in  length, 
but  failed  to  gain  flesh.  He  was  a  great  sufferer  in  bodily  afflic- 
tion, but  during  all  manifested  much  patience. 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  411 

On  account  of  his  lameness  he  did  not  receive  the  amount  of 
schooling  that  he  would  have  had  under  more  favorable  circum- 
stances ;  but  having  a  bright  mind,  he  learned  rapidly,  and  passed 
the  examination  to  teach  in  public  schools  in  Franklin  County,  at 
the  age  of  16  years. 


PROF.     J.     M.     ZUCK 


He  became  a  member  of  the  German  Baptist  Church  at  the 
age  of  16  years,  being  baptized  at  Welsh  Run,  Pennsylvania. 
About  this  time  he  entered  the  state  normal  school  at  Millers- 
ville,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  spent  the  summer  months  and 
taught  in  the  winter,  thus  paying  his  own  expenses.  This  shows 
what  may  be  done  by  an  ambitious,  energetic  young  man  of  push 
and  grit,  even  against  adverse  circumstances. 


412  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

He  graduated  from  Millersville  about  1868,  with  compli- 
mentary honors  from  Professor  Brooks.  He  was  chosen  prin- 
cipal of  the  Tremont  schools,  in  Schuylkill  County,  and  taught 
there  in  1871-72.  October,  1872,  he  commenced  teaching  at 
Waynesboro,  which  was  continued  for  two  years. 

He  entered  the  National  Normal,  at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  Sept.  21, 
1873,  remaining  until  May,  1874,  when  his  health  gave  way,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  abandon  school  work.  He  continued  home 
studies,  and  was  thereby  enabled  to  graduate,  August  14,  1874,  in 
the  scientific  course,  taking  the  title  of  B.  S.  His  graduating 
address  was  entitled  "Spanish  Struggle  for  Liberty."  The  effort 
brought  him  numerous  compliments.  He  took  up  a  classic 
course  at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  Sept.  8,  1874.  But,  on  account  of 
some  change  in  teachers,  he  left  Lebanon,  and  entered  Professor 
Carver's  Normal,  at  Medina,  Ohio,  Nov.  24,  1874,  and  remained 
until  1875,  when  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  school,  and 
returned  to  his  home. 

His  next  effort  was  at  Huntingdon,  where  he  opened  a  school 
in  the  Pilgrim  Building,  April  17,  1876.  The  enrollment  con- 
sisted of  three  students.  The  school  grew  rapidly  in  number,  and 
soon  required  larger  apartments,  and  became  what  is  now  known 
as  the  Juniata  Normal  College,  with  its  spacious  and  beautiful 
landscape  and  edifice.  The  first  building  was  erected  and  ded- 
icated in  1877,  of  which  I  am  happy  to  present  a  fine  engraving. 
For  the  history  of  the  institution  see  a  sketch  under  "Literature." 

Of  this  humble  effort  the  following  is  the  first  announcement ; — 

NORMAL     SELECT     SCHOOL. 

The  undersigned  will  open  a  normal  select  school,  in  the  Pil- 
grim building,  Huntingdon,  Pennsylvania.  The  school  year 
will  consist  of  four  terms  of  eleven  weeks  each,  beginning  April 
17,  September  4,  November  20,  1876,  and  February  12,  1877. 

TERMS. 

Tuition  for  eleven    weeks n $6  50 

.  For  less  time,  per  week 65 

Boarding,  per  week   3  00 


GERMAN    BAPTISTS BIOGRAPHICAL.  413 

The  patronage  of  all  is  solicited.  Special  attention  given  to 
those  desiring  to  teach.     For  further  particulars  address, 

J.  M.  Zuck, 
Huntingdon,  Pa. 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

"I  take  pleasure  in  certifying  that  Mr.  Jacob  Zuck  is  a  graduate 
of  the  State  Normal  School,  that  he  is  a  young  man  of  Christian 
character,  a  good,  thorough  scholar,  and  that  he  taught  with  suc- 
cess in  our  normal  school.  I  cordially  recommend  him  to  any 
desiring  a  good  teacher.  Edward  Brooks, 

"Principal  State  Normal  School." 

"Mr.  J.  M.  Zuck  graduated  in  our  scientific  class  in  1874.  He 
is  a  man  of  correct  habits,  of  remarkably  clear  and  strong  mind, 
mastering  with  certainty  every  subject  to  which  he  applies  him- 
self. He  is  well  qualified  in  the  higher  mathematics,  in  the  nor- 
mal sciences,  and  in  the  Latin  language,  to  teach  them  with 
success.  It  is  my  opinion  that  he  will  win  the  respect  and  good- 
will of  his  pupils  and  patrons  wherever  he  may  locate. 

"A.  Holbrook, 
"Principal  National  Normal  School,  Ohio. 

"April  7,  1876." 

Brother  Zuck  possessed  exceptionally  strong  religious  convic- 
tions, and  was  fearless  in  maintaining  them  in  public  or  private 
life.  He  fought  the  battles  of  life  bravely  against  odds.  He  was 
a  constant  reader  of  the  Bible,  and  meditated  much  upon  the 
blessed  truths  revealed  therein.  This  frequently  caused  him  to 
take  the  unpopular  side  of  questions  in  school.  He  was  known 
to  withhold  criticisms  and  arguments  from  others  until  they  were 
delivered  in  public,  when  his  opponents  were  confounded  with 
the  force  of  his  arguments.  He  observed  daily  seasons  of  devo- 
tion, and  his  heart  was  full  of  prayer  and  praise  to  God,  and  his 
intimate  associates  will  testify  to  his  bedside  prayers  upon  retiring. 

Brother  Zuck  opened  the  first  Sunday-school  in  the  Welsh  Run 
congregation  in  the  fall  of  1867,  which  has  been  continued  unin- 
terruptedly by  his  brothers.  He  died  May  11,  1879,  aged  32 
years  6  months  14  davs. 


414  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ELDER   JOHN    ZUG. 

John  Zug  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  May 
14,  1797,  and  died  in  Lebanon  County,  Pennsylvania,  July  19, 
1873,  aged  76  years  2  months  and  5  days.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  church  for  more  than  half  a  century,  and  a  minister  some 
30  years.  He  ever  manifested  a  zeal  in  the  Master's  cause,  trav- 
eling and  preaching,  visiting  the  sick  and  afflicted,  both  friend 
and  foe,  and  especially  was  he  vigilant  in  the  church  of  his  charge, 
which  he  left  in  a  thriving  and  prosperous  condition.  He  was 
the  eldest  son  of  Elder  Abraham  Zug,  and  became  his  successor 
in  office. 

Brother  John  Zug,  had  he  lived  in  the  present,  would  have  been 
considered  eccentric.  We  may  say  he  was  peculiar  in  a  harmless 
sense.  He  was  very  much  opposed  to  new  things,  and  especially 
to  manners  or  etiquette.  One  story  I  heard  him  relate  of  himself, 
which  he  thought  too  good  to  be  lost ;  and,  as  I  coincide  in  that 
opinion,  it  is  here  repeated  : — 

He  had  a  niece  living  in  Harrisburg.  On  one  occasion,  when 
eating  at  their  table,  the  bread  plate  was  passed.  This  was  too 
much  "style"  for  our  humble  brother,  and  he  said,  'Teh  kann  mil 
selver  helfe."  Thereupon  the  plate  was  directed  to  be  placed  on 
the  sideboard.  When  Brother  Zug  wanted  to  eat  bread,  and 
called  for  it,  the  stern  host  replied,  "You  said  you  could  help 
yourself;  over  there  is  the  bread."  And  he  went  and  helped 
himself. 

A  similar  incident  occurred  at  the  house  of  Brother  Christian 
Brumbaugh,  at  Clover  Creek,  Pennsylvania.  Sister  Brumbaugh 
had  prepared  a  special  dish  at  his  own  request.  At  the  table,  in 
the  exuberance  of  her  kind  heart,  she  handed  Brother  Zug  the 
dish,  when  he  replied,  'Teh  kann  rnir  selver  helfe."  The  dish  was 
set  down,  and  Brother  John  spread  himself  over  the  table,  accord- 
ing to  the  good  old  order,  and  helped  himself. 

When  the  annual  meeting  was  at  Bareville,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1868,  the  author  of  this  work  was  entertained  at  his  house,  and 
found  the  old  brother  and  his  wife  to  be  of  the  true  Tunker  style 
in  hospitality. 


CHAPTER   XIII 
OLD    GERMAN  "BAPTISTS. 

Modern  Tunker  literature  abounds  in  misnomers.  As  this  is 
a  history  of  the  Old  German  Baptist  Church,  the  reader  may  infer 
there  is  a  new  or  later  German  Baptist  Church.  It  may  also  be 
inferred  that  we  are  treating  alone  of  German  people,  while  the 
fact  is  there  was  not  a  German  address  delivered  and  likely  not 
a  sentence  spoken  in  the  German  language  in  all  the  deliberations 
attending  the  organization  of  this  body.  However,  every  parent 
has  the  privilege  of  naming  his  own  legitimate  offspring;  these 
people  chose  the  appellation  at  the  head  of  this  chapter  as  their 
denominational  name  and  title. 

The  occasion  for  this  organization  grew  out  of  dissatisfaction 
with  the  rulings  of  the  German  Baptist  Church  in  her  general 
councils.  Three  elements  had  obtained  and  taken  form  in  the 
Tunker  fraternity,  all  of  which  seemed  to  strive  for  supremacy. 
They  were  called  Progressive,  Conservative,  and  Old  Order,  the 
last  implying  ultra-conservatism. 

In  a  pamphlet  entitled  "The  Brethren's  Reason  for  Producing 
and  Adopting  the  Resolutions  of  August  24,  1881,"  are  set  forth 
the  particulars  anteceding  the  organization.  It  was  published  at 
the  office  of  the  Vindicator,  the  official  organ  of  the  denomination. 
It  is  prefaced  by  the  benedictus  of  Elder  Samuel  Murry,  George 
V.  Siler,  and  Samuel  Kinsey,  dated  January,  1883.  The  object  of 
the  publication  is  said  to  be  to  show  how  frequently  the  Old  Order 
Brethren  had  entreated  the  annual  meeting  to  put  away  the  new 
and  fast  movements  in  the  church,  and  to  leave  on  record  the 
earnest  labors  of  the  "old  faithful  brethren  to  maintain  the  old 
landmarks  of  the  German  Baptist  or  Dunkard  Church." 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  this  little  book,  not  so  much  for  infor- 
mation as  for  reminders  and  exact  dates  of  events,  with  which  I 
was  familiar  at  the  time  of  their  occurrence. 

The   reader  will   find  elsewhere  the   statement  that  the  pro- 

(415) 


416  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

gressive  period  in  the  Tunker  Church  began  with  the  first  issue 
of  the  Monthly  Gospel  Visitor,  their  first  church  paper.  In  this 
view  our  Old  German  Baptist  brethren  concur ;  for,  in  an  address 
preceding  the  report  of  one  of  their  meetings,  they  say :  "Up  to 
the  year  185 1  peace  and  union  existed  in  the  church.  In  that  year 
the  first  paper  was  permitted  to  be  printed  among  us."  They 
thus  associate  the  departure  of  peace  and  union  with  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  paper,  which  was  no  doubt  true,  so  far  as  their  own 
peace  and  comfort  were  concerned.  It  was  prophesied  by  the 
opponents  of  the  paper,  in  their  arguments  against  its  introduc- 
tion, that  it  would  lead  to  the  implantations  of  other  innovations ; 
and  it  required  neither  inspired  prophecy  nor  remarkable  perspi- 
cuity to  make  the  discovery. 

Let  us  learn  the  name  and  character  of  the  things  which 
disturbed  the  peace  of  these  good  people.  On  the  same  page  (35) 
it  is  stated :  "In  1857  Sunday-schools  were  rather  warranted,  and 
in  1858  privilege  was  granted  to  hold  lengthy  revival  meetings, 
and  also  high  schools.  These  somewhat  disturbed  the  peace  of 
many  brethren.  Thus,  when  the  order  of  the  church  was  once 
broken,  one  innovation  after  another  crept  in  among  us,  to  the 
sorrow  of  many  members." 

In  the  following  paragraph  other  grievances  are  mentioned, 
most  of  which  need  explanation  to  the  uninitiated  reader.  After 
having  read  the  chapter  headed  the  "Tunker  Love-feast,"  we  will 
be  able  to  proceed  intelligently,  having  learned  that  it  is  essential 
to  the  proper  observance  of  the  Tunker  communion  to  have  a 
prepared  full  meal,  of  which  all  may  and  should  partake,  as  each 
may  require  or  desire.  For  many  years  it  was  the  custom  not  to 
have  this  meal  on  the  tables  until  after  the  service  of  feet-washing. 
Upon  close  study  of  the  institution  of  the  ordinance  by  Christ, 
it  was  observed  that  He  rose  from  a  prepared  supper,  and  after- 
wards sat  down  to  the  same  meal,  and  addressed  the  twelve,  until 
He  introduced  the  elements  of  His  broken  body  and  shed  blood. 
True  to  the  Tunker  idea  of  implicit  obedience  to  the  commands 
of  Christ,  having  learned  better,  they  proceeded  to  do  better,  and 
the   elements   of   the   Lord's   supper   and   the   communion    were 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  417 

placed  on  the  tables  at  the  opening  of  the  services.  To  this  the 
Old  Order  element  objected,  because,  they  said,  "During  the  Old 
Testament  dispensation  it  was  not  permitted  to  have  two  sacrifices 
before  the  Lord  at  the  same  time." 

Another  source  of  trouble  to  these  brethren  was  the  mode  of 
observing  the  ordinance  of  feet-washing.  The  reader  is  again 
referred  to  the  very  full  account  of  these  services  in  the  chapter 
headed  the  "Tunker  Love-feast"  and  the  Glossary.  It  is  remark- 
able that  an  intelligent  body  of  such  devoted  people  should  suffer 
themselves  to  become  alienated  from  each  other  in  regard  to  the 
manner  of  observing  an  ordinance  which  was  instituted  for  the 
special  purpose  of  uniting  them  more  closely,  by  inculcating  the 
spirit  of  self-abnegation  and  humility.  In  all  the  controversies 
that  ever  disturbed  the  Tunker  fraternity,  none  was  so  prolific  in 
the  propagation  of  bad  feeling,  harsh  sayings,  and  unholy  conduct 
as  was  that  upon  the  mode  of  feet-washing.  The  Old  Order  ele- 
ment was  greatly  offended  at  the  manner  of  soliciting  money  for 
church  purposes.  They  had  so  little  use  for  money  in  their 
method  that  they  knew  practically  nothing  of  the  financial  problem 
of  church  work.  It  must  not  be  inferred  that  these  people  were 
penurious  because  they  were  opposed  to  giving  money  for  mis- 
sionary purposes.  They  were  liberal  in  their  own  way  of  giving, 
and  outdid  all  other  sects  in  feeding  the  poor,  keeping  all  their 
own  indigent,  and  contributing  liberally  to  every  other  worthy 
charity ;  but  they  were  conscientious  on  this  subject,  as  on  all 
others. 

They  began  to  seek  redress,  first  by  talking  the  matter  over 
among  themselves  privately,  then  by  consultation  among  the 
adjoining  elders,  until  they  agreed  the  time  had  arrived  when 
some  public  effort  must  be  made  to  check  the  constantly-growing 
source  of  their  vexations.  Accordingly,  the  14th  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1868,  was  set  apart  to  consider  the  matter.  However,  a 
caucus  was  held  on  the  13th  of  October  preceding,  composed  of 
about  twenty  persons,  when  it  was  decided  to  change  the  time 
for  the  public  council  to  the  13th  of  November,  for  what  reason 
we  are  not  told.  They  claim  that  Elders  Henry  Kurtz  and  Peter 
27 


418  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Nead  originated  the  idea  of  the  council  of  November  13,  1! 
To  what  extent  the  meeting  was  advertised  is  not  on  record,  but 
presumably  only  by  private  letters  to  the  elders  whose  presence 
was  desired.  At  this  13th  of  October  caucus  it  was  further 
decided  the  most  prudent  step  would  be  to  petition  next  annual 
meeting,  in  the  first  place,  to  fall  back  upon  the  ancient  order  of 
doing  busienss,  "and  that  in  case  it  would  refuse  to  do  so,  they 
were  fearful  that  many  churches  would  not  be  represented  at  the 
next  annual  meeting." 

The  author  of  this  work  was  editor  of  the  only  weekly  church 
paper  at  the  time,  and  he  knew  nothing  of  the  council  of  Novem- 
ber, 1868,  until  some  time  in  the  beginning  of  the  following  year. 
In  the  editorial  department  of  C.  F.  C,  volume  5,  number  13,  we 
find  the  following  remarks : — 

"This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  petition.  What  is  the 
plea  for  the  proposed  reformation  ?  Is  there  any  point  of  doctrine 
involved? — Not  any.  But  that  is  in  exact  accordance  with  all 
schisms.  If  ever  there  will  be  any  general  division  in  the  church, 
it  will  not  be  upon  any  point  of  doctrine,  but  upon  some  matter 
of  tradition  or  theory.  Oh,  that  we  could  all  adopt  the  beautiful, 
and,  we  believe,  holy  sentiment  expressed  by  Augustine  in  the 
words,  Tn  essentials,  unity ;  in  doubts,  freedom  ;  in  all,  however, 
love.'  Then  we  would  not  have  these  petty  bickerings  about  how 
our  fathers  used  to  do,  what  was  the  old  order,  and  a  host  of 
other  questions  not  any  more  essential." 

We  are  told  that  the  meeting  of  November  13,  1868,  was  well 
attended  by  prominent  elders,  mostly  from  Ohio,  and  some  from 
other  states.  After  two  days'  deliberation  it  was  agreed  to  send 
the  following  petition  to  annual  meeting  of  1869.  The  petition 
is  said  to  have  been  signed  by  many  brethren,  but  I  have  not  been 
able  to  secure  a  list  of  the  signatures ;  but  I  copy  the  petition  com- 
plete, as  follows : — 

"We,  the  undersigned  elders,  teachers,  and  visiting  brethren 
from  various  districts  of  the  church  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  being 
assembled  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  prayer,  upon  the  13th  day 
of  November,  1868,  for  consultation  upon  matters  with  regard  to 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  4X9 

the  present  condition  of  the  church,  do  unanimously  and  most 
earnestly  petition  for  our  next  annual  conference,  to  be  held  in  the 
state  of  Virginia,  in  the  spring  of  1869,  to  change,  at  least  in  the 
following  particulars,  its  present  manner  of  conducting  business, 
etc.,  etc.,  so  that  in  the  future  our  annual  conference  meeting  be 
conducted  more  in  simplicity,  and  after  the  manner  of  our  first 
brethren. 

"1.  From  the  elders  present  at  the  place  of  annual  meeting  let 
there  be  six  or  eight  of  the  old,  experienced,  and  established  breth- 
ren selected,  and  these  need  not  be  selected,  like  our  representatives 
in  Congress,  a  certain  n.imber  from  eacn  state,  as  each  state,  from 
its  peculiar  circumstances,  condition,  etc.,  has  its  peculiar  laws 
adapted  to  its  own  wants ;  but  not  so  with  regard  to  the  church. 
Her  rules  and  understandings  must  be  trie  same  throughout  all 
the  states,  and  hence  let  those  brethren  be  selected  from  either  or 
all  of  the  states,  as  prudence  and  the  Holy  Spirit  may  suggest ; 
and  let  not  their  names  appear  on  the  minutes  as  ' Standing  Com- 
mittee.' After  having  withdrawn,  let  those  brethren  receive  the 
queries,  etc.,  from  the  different  districts  represented,  and  let  them 
present  the  same  in  order  before  the  meeting,  for  consideration. 
A  minute  of  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  to  be  kept  by  some 
brother  present.  Let  those  old  selected  brethren  see  that  there  be 
order,  if  necessity  require;  but  let  no  brother  be  selected  as 
(human)  moderator;  rather,  submit  that  office  to  the  dictations 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Let  all  the  business,  we  entreat,  be  trans- 
acted in  great  simplicity,  and  thus  do  away  with  those  worldly- 
wise  regulations,  such  as  selecting  a  certain  portion  of  the  stand- 
ing committee  from  each  state,  appointing  a  moderator,  etc.,  and 
to  have  their  names  affixed  upon  the  minutes. 

"These  points  we  look  upon  as  tending  to  elevation,  through 
which  also  the  business  and  power  is  gradually  concentrating  too 
much  into  the  hands  of  a  few.  Let  us  all  be  members  one  of 
another,  and,  above  all,  we  say,  Close  the  door  against  that  which 
has  a  tendency  to  elevate  and  exalt  the  mind,  lest  Paul  would  say 
of  us,  'But  I  fear  lest  as  the  serpent  beguiled  Eve  through  his  sub- 
tility,  so  your  minds  should  be  corrupted  from  the  simplicity  that 
is  in  Christ.'     2  Cor.  11:3. 


420  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

"We  think  it  advisable  that  the  minutes  of  conference  be  again 
read  to  all  at  the  close  of  the  meeting ;  then  let  them  be  witnessed 
by  several  of  the  old  elders,  but  avoid  especially  designating 
those  who  had  been  selected  to  receive  the  reports  of  the  churches. 
"2.  We  petition  conference  to  desist  from  sending  committees 
to  various  churches  where  difficulties  exist.  We  advise  that  all 
churches  who  need  assistance  call  upon  the  elders,  etc.,  in  adjoin- 
ing districts  to  come  to  their  help,  for  it  is  probable  that  in  most 
cases  these  have  a  better  knowledge  of  the  case  than  those 
brethren  sent  to  them  from  a  distance.  And  let  all  cases  where 
any  of  the  ordinances  or  doctrinal  points  be  involved,  be  reported 
to  conference,  and  let  conference,  after  having  considered  the 
case,  write  accordingly  to  the  church  where  the  difficulty  exists. 
Let  two  brethren  be  chosen  to  carry  and  deliver  the  epistle  to 
said  church.  This  will  be  according  to  the  practice  of  the 
apostles'  days,  for  proof  of  which  see  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Acts. 
"3.  We  further  petition  this  meeting  to  counsel  and  advise 
Brethren  Quinter  and  Kurtz  and  H.  R.  Holsinger  to  publish 
nothing  in  their  periodicals  that  disputes  the  practice  of  the  pre- 
cepts and  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  as  handed  down  to  us  by 
Christ  and  the  apostles,  through  and  by  the  forefathers  of  the 
church.  And  let  Brothers  Nead,  Kinsey,  and  all  the  brethren 
who  write,  be  cautioned  upon  this  head. 

"In  conclusion  we  say  that  if  this  Conference  Meeting  shall 
hear  and  grant  this  petition,  well;  but  in  case  it  shall  refuse  to 
do  so,  it  is  very  probable  that  many  churches  will  not  be  repre- 
sented at  our  next  annual  conference,  and  hence  the  result  will 
be  reorganization  of  our  conference  meetings  by  said  churches 
in  accordance  with  this  petition." 

In  order  to  strengthen  their  forces,  a  number  of  the  Miami 
Valley  elders  and  Old  Order  members  held  a  meeting  at  the  Bear 
Creek  church,  west  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  on  Easter  Monday,  March 
29,  1869.  At  this  meeting  they  reiterated  their  grievances,  and 
endeavored  to  devise  some  system  of  manipulating  Annual  Meet- 
ing so  as  to  carry  their  point.  They  declared  the  object  of  their 
labors  to  be  to  "unite  the  brotherhood  upon  the  ancient  principles 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  421 

of  the  church,  and  thus  save  her  from  a  corrupted  Christendom." 

A  supplement  was  then  prepared  in  the  form  of  a  petition,  and 
with  a  view  of  circulating  it  and  obtaining  signers  thereto.  By 
way  of  preamble,  and  as  an  inducement  to  obtain  signatures 
thereto,  they  said: — 

"The  brethren  need  not  be  alarmed,  neither  need  they  entertain 
the  slightest  fear  in  putting  their  names  to  this  paper,  seeing  we 
plead  not  for  any  new  thing,  in  which  there  may  be  danger,  but 
for,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Stand  ye  in  the  ways  and  see,  and  ask 
for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk  therein,  and 
ye  shall  find  rest  for  your  souls.'     Jer.  6:  16." 

Finally  it  was  agreed  to  place  the  following  pledge,  or  bond  of 
union,  at  the  head  of  the  petition : — 

"And  that  there  may  be  as  much  accomplished  as  possible  in 
this  direction,  the  brethren  in  council  on  the  13th  day  of  October, 
1868,  and  again  on  the  13th  day  of  November,  and  we,  the  under- 
signed, do  most  earnestly  entreat  our  annual  conference  of  1869 
to  hear  the  accompanying  petition,  and  to  grant  the  requests 
therein  stated — giving  a  definite  reply — after  which  the  steps  nec- 
essary to  be  taken  will  manifest  themselves.  We,  the  under- 
signed, do  hereby  signify  that  we  will  be  firm  and  faithful  to  that 
which  is  herein  contained,  and  that  we  will  be  true  to  each  other, 
by  evil  report  and  good  report." 

This  petition,  we  are  told,  was  signed  by  126  members  at  the 
meeting.  How  many  additional  names  were  obtained  at  other 
times  and  places  deponent  saith  not.  It  was  printed,  and  circu- 
lated extensively. 

In  due  time  the  paper,  with  the  signatures  attached,  was  pre- 
sented to  the  annual  meeting,  which  that  year  was  held  in  Roa- 
noke County,  Virginia.  It  received  respectful  consideration  at 
the  hands  of  the  Conference,  with  the  following  reply : — 

"i.  Whereas  there  have  been  certain  petitions  from  southern 
Ohio  presented  to  this  annual  meeting,  and  which  have  been  exten- 
sively circulated  through  the  brotherhood,  wherein  the  petitioners 
have  set  forth  certain  grievances,  and  desire  some  change  or 
modification  in  holding  the  annual  meeting,  and  also  in  certain 


422  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

practices  among  the  brethren ;  and  whereas  this  annual  meeting 
desires  to  maintain  all  the  practices  and  ordinances  of  Christianity 
in  their  simplicity  and  purity,  and  to  promote  'the  unity  of  the 
spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace ;'  therefore,  though  it  can  not  grant 
the  changes  and  objects  desired  by  the  petitioners  to  the  full 
extent  petitioned  for,  it  will  make  the  following  changes  in  the 
manner  of  holding  the  annual  meeting,  and  endeavor  to  guard 
with  increased  vigilance  against  the  abuse  of  the  practices  referred 
to  in  the  supplement,  by  advising  and  urging  the  brethren  to 
observe  the  cautions  and  directions  in  reference  to  said  practices, 
as  hereinafter  stated: — 

"i.  In  relation  to  the  appointing  of  the  standing  committee, 
we  advise  that  the  district  meetings  select  old,  experienced,  and 
established  brethren  ;  and  that,  in  signing  the  minutes,  we  advise 
that  a  suitable  number  of  elders  sign  them,  but  not  as  members 
of  the  standing  committee,  and  the  signers  need  not  be  confined 
to  the  committee.  We  also  advise  that  the  minutes  be  read  to 
all  at  the-  close  of  the  meeting,  provided  there  is  time,  and  it  be 
found  practicable  to  do  so ;  and  that  the  term  Moderator,  as 
applied  to  the  brother  who  keeps  order,  be  dropped. 

"2.  In  relation  to  holding  protracted  meetings  for  worship,  we 
feel  much  impressed  with  the  propriety  of  conducting  said  meet- 
ings in  strict  accordance  with  the  gospel ;  that  all  disorder  and 
improper  excitement  should  be  avoided ;  that  care  should  be 
taken  that  the  understanding  be  enlightened  as  well  as  the  pas- 
sions awakened  ;  that  on  all  occasions  when  candidates  for  church 
membership  are  visited  and  examined,  they  be  dealt  with  as  the 
gospel  seems  to  require,  and  as  the  order  of  the  brethren  has 
sanctioned ;  that  in  noticing  the  success  of  preaching,  we  advise 
that  the  number  of  additions  to  the  churches  be  omitted. 

"3.  In  relation  to  Sabbath-schools,  we  feel  the  great  necessity 
of  guarding  against  the  prevailing  manner  in  which  these  schools 
are  conducted ;  of  cautioning  the  brethren  who  take  any  part  in 
them  against  having  festivals,  or  anything  of  the  kind  that  does 
not  comport  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  which  such  schools 
are  designed  to  promote ;  that  care  be  taken  lest  pride  be  taught 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  423 

rather  than  humility,  and  that  nothing  be  encouraged  thereby  that 
will  conflict  with  the  established  order  and  character  of  the 
brethren ;  and  that  care  should  be  taken  that  no  offense  be  given  to 
brethren  in  these  things. 

"4.  In  reference  to  the  controversial  articles  published  in  our 
religious  papers,  we  counsel  and  advise  our  Brethren  Qu inter  and 
Kurtz  and  H.  R.  Holsinger  to  publish  nothing  in  their  peri- 
odicals that  disputes  the  practice  of  the  precepts  and  ordinances 
of  the  gospel,  as  handed  down  to  us  from  Christ  and  the  apostles, 
through  and  by  the  forefathers  of  the  church ;  and  that  Brethren 
Nead  and  Kinsey,  and  all  the  brethren  who  write,  be  cautioned 
upon  this  head,  and  are  hereby  given  to  understand  that  a  disre- 
gard to  this  counsel  will  subject  a  brother  to  the  counsel  of  the 
church. 

"5.  In  reference  to  prayer-meetings,  social  meetings,  and 
Bible  classes,  we  would  say  that  we  advise  the  brethren  to  be  very 
careful  in  conducting  such  meetings,  when  they  have  been  intro- 
duced, and  to  conduct  them  not  after  the  prevailing  custom  of 
the  religious  world,  but  in  the  order  that  the  brethren  conduct 
their  meetings  for  worship ;  that  brethren  be  cautioned  against 
introducing  such  meetings  where  their  introduction  would  cause 
confusion  in  the  churches,  and  that  elders  always  be  consulted 
in  introducing  such  meetings." 

The  author  of  the  aforesaid  pamphlet  criticises  the  action  of 
annual  meeting  pretty  severely ;  he  also  declares  that  the  petition 
did  not  come  before  the  public  meeting  at  all,  which  is  probably 
true. 

Then  he  refers  to  the  difficulty  existing  upon  the  mode  of  feet- 
washing. 

In  the  year  1871  they  made  another  effort  to  control  the  annual 
meeting  in  regard  to  this  question.  The  article  on  the  minutes 
of  the  annual  meeting  reads  as  follows : — 

"Whereas  this  annual  meeting  finds,  to  its  great  regret,  that 
the  subject  of  feet-washing,  in  its  single  or  double  mode,  as 
the  difference  is  called,  has  produced  serious  difficulties  among 
us,  and  threatens  still  greater  difficulties  in  the  future  questions 


424  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

relating  to  this  subject  having  come  from  different  localities  in 
the  brotherhood,  it  has  assumed  such  a  degree  of  importance  as 
to  commend  it  to  the  serious  and  prayerful  attention  of  the 
brotherhood.  Under  these  considerations,  with  prayerful  reflec- 
tion, the  propriety  has  suggested  itself  to  us  of  calling  the  elders 
of  the  brotherhood  together  to  consider  this  matter,  as  the  apostles 
and  elders  did  to  consider  the  case  of  circumcision.  We  have 
therefore  concluded  to  request  all  ordained  elders  of  the  brother- 
hood to  meet,  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  under  a  sense  of  their 
responsibility,  in  solemn  assembly,  on  Whit-Monday,  1872,  at  the 
place  of  our  next  annual  meeting,  to  dispose  of  the  subject  as 
the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  fraternity  may  require.  In  the 
meantime  no  church  should  be  organized  under  the  single  mode, 
neither  should  any  change  from  the  double  to  the  single  mode. 
And  in  order  to  obtain  all  information  posible,  to  present  unto  the 
council  of  elders  above  alluded  to,  we  appoint  the  following 
brethren  as  a  committee  to  ascertain,  as  far  as  possible,  which  was 
the  first  mode  practiced  by  our  brethren  in  America,  D.  P.  Sayler, 
Jacob  Reiner,  James  Quinter. 

The  committee  discharged  their  duties,  it  is  presumed,  to  the 
best  of  their  ability,  and  in  due  time  laid  the  report  of  their  inves- 
tigations before  the  council  of  elders.  Annual  Meeting  was  held 
that  year  in  Wayne  County,  Ohio,  on  the  farm  of  Elder  Cyrus 
Hoover.  The  council  was  referred  to  as  Episcopal  and  as  an 
ecumenical  council.  As  it  was  composed  exclusively  of  ordained 
elders,  and  the  author  of  this  work  not  belonging  to  that  class  at 
that  time,  he  was  not  admitted  into  the  council  chamber.  Among 
those  who  participated  in  the  discussion  the  following  are  named : 
Henry  Kurtz,  Peter  Nead,  B.  F.  Moomaw,  D.  P.  Sayler,  H.  D. 
Davey,  James  Quinter,  J.  H.  Umstad,  Jacob  K.  Reiner,  D.  B. 
Sturgis,  John  Cadwalader.  The  report  of  the  committee  was  as 
follows : — 

sayler's  report  to  the  elders  at  annual  meeting. 

Dear  Brethren :  In  compliance  with  appointment  by  annual 
meeting  of  1871,  Art.  37,  to  ascertain,  as  far  as  possible,  what 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  425 

was  the  first  mode  in  the  observance  of  the  ordinance  of  feet- 
washing  by  the  brethren  in  America,  I,  being  governed  or  guided 
in  the  field  of  my  research  by  this  history :  "The  first  appearing  of 
these  people  in  America  was  in  the  fall  of  the  year  17 19,  when 
about  twenty  families  landed  in  Philadelphia,  and  dispersed  them- 
selves, some  to  Germantown,  some  to  Skippeck,  some  to  Olev, 
some  to  Conestoga,  and  elsewhere.  This  dispersion  incapaci- 
tated them  to  meet  for  public  worship,  and  therefore  they  began 
to  grow  lukewarm  in  religion.  But  in  the  year  1722  Messrs. 
Baker,  Gomery,  Gantz,  and  Frantz  visited  these  scattered  breth- 
ren, which  was  attended  with  a  great  revival,  insomuch  that  soci- 
eties were  formed  wherever  a  number  of  families  were  in  reach 
of  one  another." — Benedict's  History  of  the  Baptists,  page  599. 
This,  being  from  Morgan  Edwards'  "History  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Baptists,"  is  authoritative. 

To  visit  these  points,  I  started  on  a  tour  on  the  27th  of 
September,  1871,  in  my  private  conveyance,  taking  with  me  Elder 
Moses  Miller,  who  kindly  consented  to  go  along.  I  was  out 
8  days,  and  traveled  upward  of  300  miles,  traveling  as  many  as 
47  miles  a  day.  And,  passing  from  one  point  to  another,  we 
passed  through  territory  not  occupied  by  brethren,  and,  being 
strangers,  we  were  obliged  to  lodge  overnight  and  for  dinner  in 
public  houses  sometimes.  Having  learned  that,  although  Oley 
had  the  second  meeting-house  built  by  the  brethren  in  America, 
yet,  by  death,  removal,  and  other  causes,  the  church  had  gone 
down  so  that  there  had  been  no  preaching  there  for  forty  years  but 
of  late  years  had  been  revived  through  the  labors  of  Elder  John 
Zug,  so  that  it  now  numbers  about  sixty  members,  with  David 
Eshelman  elder,  I  could  ascertain  nothing,  although  Elder  J.  Zug 
is  a  living,  walking  encyclopedia  on  church  matters.  We  did  not 
visit  this  church,  though  we  passed  through  its  territory.  We 
also  learned  that  Skippeck  was  a  point  within  the  territory  of  the 
Indian  Creek  church.  So  we  traveled  east  as  far  as  to  the  old 
meeting-house  in  the  Indian  Creek  church,  which  is  in  Mont- 
gomery County,  and  answers  the  historical  Skippeck.  We  also 
visited  all  the  oldest  members  named  to  us,  in  order  to  ascertain 
all  the  traditional  information  we  could. 


426  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

We  did  not  find  Samuel  Harley,  elder  of  the  Indian  Creek 
church,  at  home,  neither  A.  H.  Cassel,  they  having  gone  to  a 
love-feast  some  distance  away.  This  I  regretted  much,  though 
Brother  Cassel's  son  kindly  showed  us  through  his  father's 
library,  but,  of  course,  we  could  ascertain  nothing  by  a  personal 
inspection  of  manuscript,  etc.,  not  knowing  where  to  find  them. 
In  order  to  meet  this  deficiency  I  appointed  Brother  Abraham 
H.  Price,  who,  in  my  stead,  should  have  Brother  Cassel  to  search 
all  the  written  manuscripts  in  his  library  to  obtain  all  the  written 
information  on  the  subject,  and  write  the  same  to  me.  In  com- 
pliance with  this  arrangement  Brother  Price  writes:  "November 
1 8,  1 87 1.  I  have  done  as  you  have  requested  me  to  do.  I  asked 
Brother  Cassel  whether  he  had  a  journal  of  the  ancient  church 
that  would  show  or  tell  how  the  German  Baptists  practiced  feet- 
washing.  He  said  he  had.  Yes,  a  journal  he  has  from  the  Ger- 
mantown  church  wherein  we  can  see  many  things  to  our  satis- 
faction of  the  housekeeping  of  the  old  brethren  in  the  church. 
But  nothing  of  feet-washing,  whether  single  or  double,  nothing 
in  his  library.  But  he  has  much  to  tell  of  what  he  heard  of  old 
Brother  Fox  and  others.  They  tell  him  that  single  mode  was 
the  practice  of  the  mother  church  in  Germantown.' 

To  give  Brother  Cassel  an  impartial  hearing  I  insert  the  fol- 
lowing letters  from  him.  He  writes  voluntarily,  October  19, 
1865,  as  follows :  "I  have  read  your  article  on  feet-washing 
{Gospel  Visitor,  Vol.  15,  page  112)  with  a  great  deal  of  interest, 
and  cheerfully  endorse  every  word  of  it,  excepting  the  assertion 
at  the  close,  that  the  present  order  has  been  the  order  of  the 
church  since  hei;  organization  in  America,  I  can  not  endorse, 
because  I  know  the  contrary  is  the  fact.  But  I  am  very  well 
satisfied  with  the  order  as  the  church  observes  it.  St.  Paul's 
reasoning  in  1  Cor.  12  satisfies  my  mind  against  any  scruples  on 
the  subject.  And,  although  it  is  an  ancient  order,  as  you  have 
traced  it  eighty-one  years  back,  and  might  be  traced  still  further, 
it  is,  nevertheless,  not  the  ancient,  or  first  order,  and  can  not  be 
traced  back  to  her  organization  in  America.  For  that  the 
brethren  originally  did  wash  and  wipe  is  a  fact  that  admits  of  no 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  427 

doubt,  and  therefore  needs  no  argument  to  sustain  it.  But  that 
many  branches  of  the  mother  church  did  early  deviate  from  it,  is 
also  a  fact,  and  that  some  did  never  observe  it  that  way  at  all, 
must  be  likewise  admitted,  among  which  is  Indian  Creek,  one  of 
its  most  early  branches,  and  under  the  immediate  patronage  of 
the  mother  church  at  Germantown,  did  not  observe  it  that  way 
until  many  years  after  its  organization,  where,  in  compliance  to 
the  wishes  of  some  of  its  members,  the  attempt  was  made  for 
once  to  wash  and  wipe,  but  found  it  so  inconvenient  that  we  went 
back  again  to  our  former  mode,  and  never  attempted  it  since. 
This  also  proves  the  assertion  of  Brother  Thurman  in  regard  to 
Indian  Creek  having  changed  the  order  is  entirely  groundless." 

"From  all  that  I  can  learn,  it  appears  as  if  the  Brethren  were 
at  first  somewhat  indifferent  about  the  mode,  or,  rather,  as  if  they 
had  left  it  optional,  while  some  practiced  it  in  this  way,  and  some 
that  way,  even  during  the  lifetime  of  its  founders,  and  yet  were 
all  loving  and  sociable  together  as  we  are  yet  to  this  day  with 
those  that  do  still  retain  the  ancient  or  first  order. 

"I  said  the  brethren  at  first  appeared  somewhat  indifferent 
about  the  mode  of  feet-washing.  They  did  so,  but  justice 
requires  me  to  say  that  they  did  not  at  all  continue  so,  for  A. 
Mack,  Jr.,  was  always  inclined  to  observe  it  according  to  the 
pattern  of  Christ,  and  when  upon  his  death-bed,  in  1803,  he  was 
visited  by  several  of  his  junior  colaborers,  whom  he  admonished 
very  feelingly  to  continue  steadfast  in  the  external  forms  of  our 
religion,  especially  in  that  of  feet-washing,  for  although  he  bore 
with  the  deviation,  he  for  all  grieved  it  on  his  death-bed.  And 
to  use  his  own  words,  he  feared  it  was  opening  a  bar  in  the 
inclosure  for  still  greater  deviations  to  creep  in.  They  were 
faithful  to  his  dying  injunctions,  and  to  this  day  observe  the 
old  mode  of  washing  and  wiping.  But,  oh,  what  deviations  did 
they  allow  to  creep  in  in  other  respects !  I  allude  to  the  man- 
ners of  holding  love-feasts,  and  to  their  general  intercourse  with 
each  other,  etc.         Yours  in  love,  Abraham  H.  Cassel." 

January  8,  1865,  he  writes  again :  "In  the  first  place  I  would 
inform  you  yet  of  what  I  forgot  to  mention  in  the  proper  place 


428  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

in  my  former  letter, — that  for  many  years  after  the  organization  of 
our  church  the  brethren  had  a  deal  of  trouble  concerning  the  time 
of  washing  feet,  which  occasioned  two  changes  already.  For,  in 
the  beginning  of  our  fraternity,  we  washed  feet  after  the  supper  and 
the  breaking  of  bread  was  over.  After  observing  it  in  this  way  for 
a  while,  we  began  to  see  a  little  more,  and  washed  them  between 
the  supper  and  the  bread,  and  that  way  we  continued  to  do  until 
I.  H.  Reitz'  translation  of  the  New  Testament  appeared.  That 
and  the  arguments  of  a  brother  that  understood  the  Greek  lan- 
guage convinced  us  of  our  error.  Since  then  we  observe  it  as 
we  still  do,  before  supper.  But  concerning  the  mode,  or  order, 
of  washing  them,  I  can  not  find  anything  more  explicit  than  what 
I  have  already  stated,  namely,  that  he  who  washed  also  wiped, 
and  that  A.  Mack  and  the  mother  church  at  Germantown  never 
did  observe  it  otherwise,  but,  as  already  said,  bore  with  the 
branches  that  deviated.        Fraternally  yours,        A.  H.  Cassel." 

In  my  charge  to  Brother  A.  H.  Price  I  requested  him  to  ascer- 
tain which  were  the  next  oldest  churches  to  Germantown.  To  this 
he  replies :  "The  first  one  was  the  Coventry  church,  in  Chester 
County,  and  the  next  one  was  either  the  Indian  Creek  or  Ephra- 
tah,  we  can  not  positively  tell  which.  But  this  we  do  know,  that 
feet-washing  in  these  was  always  performed  in  the  double  mode." 
I,  however,  being  guided  in  my  research  by  the  historical  direc- 
tion, and  learning  from  that  of  the  apparent  simultaneous  organ- 
ization of  churches  at  the  four  points  named  and  that  neither 
one  is  mother  or  the  offspring  of  the  other,  but  each  being  an 
independent  organization  by  the  same  authority,  and  having 
ascertained  all  about  Oley,  Skippeck,  and  Germantown,  I  turned 
to  Conestoga,  which  is  in  charge  of  Elder  Christian  Bomberger. 
Here  I  found  a  written  record  from  the  date  of  her  organiza- 
tion, by  Elder  Peter  Becker,  of  her  first  love-feast,  the  names  of 
all  her  ministers,  the  names  and  dates  of  all  her  baptized.  This 
rceord  I  was  told  is  not  in  A.  H.  Cassel's  library.  I  report  as 
follows : — 

The  church  at  Conestoga  was  organized  by  Peter  Becker,  in 
1722,  and  Conrad  Beisel  was  baptized,  and  the  first  love-feast 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  429 

served  by  Becker,  and,  after  the  meeting,  when  Brother  Becker 
was  leaving  the  place,  he  told  the  brethren  that  he  could  not 
visit  them  regularly ;  he  put  the  New  Testament  into  the  hand 
of  Beisel,  and  told  him  he  should  do  the  best  he  could  in  church 
housekeeping.  This  way  of  authorizing  Beisel  to  take  charge 
of  the  church  caused  much  dissatisfaction  among  the  brethren, 
and  to  settle  this  he  was  elected  to  the  ministry,  in  1724,  with 
John  Hildebrand,  deacon,  to  serve  in  the  Conestoga  church, 
under  Peter  Becker,  bishop.  Beisel,  however,  caused  a  schism  in 
the  church  in  reference  to  the  Sabbath,  which  caused  consider- 
able trouble  in  the  church,  and,  in  1732,  it  culminated  in  a  sepa- 
ration, six  brethren  and  five  sisters  adhering  to  Beisel,  and 
twenty-seven  remaining  with  Becker,  all  Conestoga  members. 
This  Beisel  was  baptized  by  Brother  Becker,  in  the  Conestoga 
church,  and  the  same  day  communed,  and  was  informally  author- 
ized to  preach,  and  in  1724  was  regularly  elected  to  the  minis- 
try, and  in  December  of  the  same  year  served  his  first  communion. 

Brother  Becker  was  minister  in  Germantown  and  Conestoga 
churches  till  1724.  During  his  administration  fifty-two  were 
baptized  in  Conestoga  church. 

Brother  Michael  Frantz  succeeded  Becker.  He  was  bishop 
thirteen  years.  He  died  in  1747.  During  his  administration 
one  hundred  and  nineteen  were  baptized. 

Brother  Michael  Pfautz  succeeded  him,  and  was  her  bishop 
from  1747  to  1769,  a  period  of  twenty-two  years.  He  died  in 
the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age.  During  his  administration  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  were  baptized. 

Brother  Christian  Longanaker  succeeded  him,  and  served 
three  years,  when  the  church  was  districted  into  three,  namely, 
Conestoga,  White  Oak,  and  Swatara,  Berks  County.  Jacob  Stoll 
was  ordained  bishop  for  Conestoga,  Christian  Longanacker  and 
Johannas  Zug  for  White  Oak,  and  Martin  Gable  for  Swatara. 
Jacob  Stoll  was  in  charge  of  the  Conestoga  church  from  1772  to 
1822,  a  period  of  fifty  years.  He  died  in  1822,  in  the  ninetieth 
year  of  his  age.  During  his  administration  two  hundred  and 
sixtv-three  were  baptized,  and  during  the  three  years  of  Longan- 


430  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

aker  seventy-nine  were  baptized.  (This  is  the  offspring  a 
church  must  have  to  entitle  her  to  the  appellation  of  mother. 
Of  these  Germantown  has  none,  and  hence  she  is  not  the  mother 
church. ) 

In  1815  (Stoll's  administration)  the  Conestoga  church  elected 
Abraham  Zug  and  Jacob  Pfautz  to  the  ministry  at  the  same  time, 
and  in  1823  both  were  ordained  together.  Zug  died  in  1841, 
and  Jacob  Pfautz  had  charge  of  the  church  forty-one  years,  and 
died  in  1864,  in  the  eighty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  During  his 
administration  three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  were  baptized.  In 
1830  (Zug  and  Pfautz'  administration)  Christian  Bomberger 
was  elected  to  the  ministry,  and  in  1864,  the  year  Pfautz  died, 
Conestoga  church  was  again  districted  into  three,  namely,  Cones- 
toga,  West  Conestoga,  and  Ephratah.  C.  Bomberger  was 
ordained  for  Conestoga,  in  whose  charge  the  church  now  is,  and 
up  to  the  time  of  writing,  October  3,  1871,  of  his  administration, 
three  hundred  and  ninety  were  baptized.  In  all  this  carefully- 
kept  record  there  is  not  one  word  written  on  the  mode  of  feet- 
washing,  and  as  in  Germantown  and  Indian  Creek  (the  historical 
Skippeck)  churches,  we  are  dependent  on  tradition  alone  on  the 
subject. 

After  having  learned  that  Beisel  was  baptized  by  Becker  in 
the  Conestoga  church,  in  1722,  and  at  the  same  time  authorized 
to  preach,  and  was  duly  elected  to  the  ministry  in  1724,  and  in 
December  of  the  same  year  served  the  communion  in  the  Con- 
estoga church,  thus  identifying  him  with  the  early  history  in 
America,  and  keeping  a  written  (now  printed)  record  of  all  that 
transpired  in  the  church,  whether  good  or  bad,  I  turned  my 
investigation  in  that  direction,  seeking  written  testimony.  I 
made  a  special  personal  visit  to  the  nunnery  in  Franklin  County, 
Pennsylvania,  but  only  learned  that  a  David  Landis  (not  a  mem- 
ber, but  one  who  communed  with  the  church)  had  caused  some 
little  trouble  among  them  in  urging  the  single  mode,  and  that  in 
1826  they  had  a  meeting  on  the  subject  in  Ephratah,  and  it  was 
concluded  to  make  no  change,  as  the  church  had  ever  observed 
the  double  mode,  and  if  that  had  not  been  the  right  way  it  cer- 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  43 1 

tainly  would  have  been  revealed  to  the  holy  fathers  and  founders 
of  the  church.  Elder  John  Zug  having  access  to  a  copy  of  the 
Ephratah  Chronica,  I  requested  him  to  examine  it  and  ascertain 
whether  anything  is  written  on  the  mode  of  feet-washing.  He 
kindly  consented  to  do  so.  He  writes :  "I  have  read  the  Chron- 
ica through,  but  find  nothing  by  Beisel  on  the  mode  of  washing 
feet ;  but  it  confirms  the  Conestoga  record,  that  he,  as  a  minister, 
served  the  community  for  the  first  time  in  the  Conestoga  church 
in  1724,  etc.  But  on  page  216  one  George  Adam  Martin  writes 
and  says,  'Although  I  am  separated  in  time  and  eternity  from 
their  (the  Brethren)  doctrine  and  teaching,  excepting  baptism, 
Lord's  Supper,  and  feet  washing,  yet  I  have  great  respect  before 
God  towards  them,  especially  towards  Alexander  Mack.5  This 
G.  A.  Martin  was  baptized  by  the  brethren  in  Martin  Urner's 
Coventry  church,  in  1735.  For  what  cause  he  afterwards  went 
with  Beisel  I  have  not  ascertained,  but  on  pages  217,  218  it  is 
written  that  this  G.  A.  Martin  and  John  Ham  came  to  Ephratah 
on  a  visit,  and  stopped  with  Father  Freedsome  (Bissel),  when 
the  old  father  arose  and  said,  'Come,  brethren,  take  a  seat  here, 
and  I  will  wash  your  feet,'  and  Brother  Nageley  wiped  them." 

This,  dear  brethren,  is  the  only  written  testimony  I  could  find 
on  the  mode  of  feet-washing,  in  all  the  diligent  investigation,  and 
this  you  will  observe  was  in  the  double  mode,  and  this  I  think 
is  conclusive  testimony  that  the  single  mode  was  not  practiced 
in  the  churches  when  Beisel  became  a  brother,  for  if  it  had  been, 
in  this  act  of  hospitality  the  single  mode  certainly  would  have 
been  in  order. 

Failing  to  obtain  written  testimony  I  made  diligent  search  to 
ascertain  all  the  traditional  information  I  could.  To  this  end 
the  brethren  pointed  out  the  oldest  living  members,  but  I  found 
none  that  ever  heard  tell  of  any  other  but  the  double  mode  being 
observed  outside  of  Germantown.  Elder  John  Zug  remembers 
his  grandfather  well,  who  was  baptized  in  the  Conestoga  church, 
in  1749,  and  was  elder  in  the  White  Oak  church,  as  was  also  his 
father,  yet  he  never  heard  them  mention  the  single  mode  outside 
of  Germantown.      My  own  great-grandfather    was    baptized  in 


432  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

1752,  and  migrated  with  my  grandfather  to  Beaver  Dam,  Frank- 
lin County,  Virginia,  in  1772,  and  I  communed  with  my  grand- 
father several  times,  and  had  many  conversations  with  him  on 
church  matters,  and  though  he  told  me  all  about  the  changes  in 
feet-washing,  in  reference  to  the  time  of  washing,  he  never  men- 
tioned any  but  the  double  mode  being  observed. 

The  Antietam  church,  Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania,  was 
formed  and  organized  by  emigrant  brethren  from  Coventry, 
Indian  Creek,  and  Conestoga  churches,  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
I  requested  Elder  J.  F.  Oiler  to  ascertain  all  the  information  on 
the  subject  he  could.  He  informs  me  that  the  brethren  made 
diligent  search,  but  have  only  traditional  testimony.  They  have 
a  sister  ninety-two  years  old,  whose  mental  faculties  are  unim- 
paired. She  has  a  traditional  knowledge  from  old  members  in 
her  early  age.  She  never  knew  or  heard  of  any  other  than  the 
double  mode. 

Thus,  dear  brethren,  in  all  my  diligent  and  personal  research 
into  the  subject  throughout  different  counties  in  eastern  Penn- 
sylvania, personally  interviewing  members  who  are  far  in  their 
fourscore  years,  whose  parents  were  members  in  the  church, 
I  failed  to  find  even  a  trace  of  the  single  mode  ever  being 
observed  in  the  churches  outside  of  Germantown,  excepting  one 
time  in  the  Indian  Creek  church. 

Dear  brethren,  the  result  of  my  investigation  may  be  summed 
up  as  follows  : — 

First.  Peter  Becker  (and  perhaps  others)  organized  churches 
at  Germantown,  Skippeck  (Indian  Creek  territory),  Oley,  and 
Conestoga,  as  near  simultaneous  as  circumstances  would  admit, 
and  while  Germantown  was  the  first,  and  had  the  first  love-feast, 
she  is,  nevertheless,  no  more  entitled  to  the  appellation  mother 
than  any  of  the  others.  Mother  implies  offspring,  and  neither 
of  the  first-organized  churches  are  her  offspring,  but  all  were 
organized  by  the  same  authority.  And  while  the  term  is  offen- 
sive,   and    belongs    to    the    Papacy,    let    it   be    forever    dropped. 

Second.  Tradition  says  the  church  at  Germantown  always 
observed  feet- washing  in  the  single  mode ;  even  so  it  says  that  all 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  433 

the  other  churches  observed  it  in  the  double  mode.  And  it  is 
certain  that  none  observed  it  in  any  other  mode  since  the  change 
as  to  time  was  made,  excepting  the  one  time  in  the  Indian  Creek 
church,  which  A.  H.  Cassel  says  was  done  at  the  request  of  some 
of  her  members.  But  members  who  lived  at  that  time,  and  are 
yet  living,  told  me  that  it  was  done  at  the  unceasing  importunity 
of  John  Price,  of  Fitzwater,  who  preached  at  Germantown,  and 
say  but  for  him  the  members  would  never  have  thought  of  such 
a  thing. 

Third.  Great  stress  is  laid  on  the  reported  dying  regrets  and 
injunction  of  Brother  Mack  by  the  advocates  of  the  single  mode 
as  given  in  A.  H.  Cassel's  letter  above,  but  as  such  regrets  as 
reported  are  so  unbecoming  a  great  and  good  man,  and  a  leader 
of  a  religious  association,  and  are  so  clearly  anti-apostolic,  that, 
if  true,  I  wish  the  mantle  of  charity  had  been  thrown  over  his 
apparent  weakness.  St.  Paul's  dying  words  to  Timothy  were 
not,  Don't  do  as  I  did.  And  I  am  very  slow  to  believe  what  is 
reported  as  Brother  Mack's  dying  regrets  by  his  friends  to  sus- 
tain a  doubtful  favoritism.  But  if  it  is  positively  true  that  he 
had  regrets,  I  think  I  see  a  different  cause  for  it  than  bearing 
with  the  double  mode.  As  seen  above,  Beisel  caused  a  divi- 
sion in  the  church,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  the  brethren 
ceased  to  mix  with  them,  and  partake  with  them  in  their  religious 
services.  Brother  Mack  once  left  his  charge,  and  dwelt  with 
Beisel  one  year  at  Ephratah,  and  only  left  it  when  he  became  con- 
vinced that  it  would  fall  through.  And  Sister  Saur  time  and 
again  would  leave  her  husband  and  home  in  Germantown,  and 
seclude  herself  in  Beisel's  nunnery  at  Ephratah.  So,  if  anything 
caused  Brother  Mack  any  regrets  on  his  death-bed,  I  am  much 
inclined  to  believe  such  a  mixing  in  with  a  cut-off  faction  was  the 
principal  cause. 

Fourth.  Brethren  from  seventy  to  eighty  years  old  told  me 
they  heard  old  brethren  say  that  the  church  was  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  that  in  her  the  ordinance  of  feet-washing  must  be 
observed  by  her  members,  where  there  is  with  God  neither  male 
nor  female,  bond  nor  free,  but  are  all  one  in  Christ,  and  while  the 

28 


434  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

church  is  the  body  of  Christ  and  we  members  in  the  body,  none 
dare  to  assume  the  position  of  Christ. 
All  is  humbly  submitted  by 

D.  P.  Sayler. 

The  following  resolution  contains  the  decision  of  the  meeting 
upon  the  subject: — 

"Make  no  change  whatever  in  the  mode  and  practice  of  feet- 
washing,  and  stop  the  further  agitation  of  the  subject." 

This  decision  should  have  satisfied  the  most  pertinacious 
defender  of  the  double  mode.  We  can  not  refrain  from  drawing 
comparisons  between  the  advocates  of  this  double  mode  of  feet- 
washing  with  the  course  pursued  by  the  advocates  of  American 
slavery.  That  was  exactly  what  the  slaveholders  requested  of 
the  National  Congress:  That  the  agitation  of  the  subject  of 
slavery,  especially  on  the  anti  side,  should  be  prevented  by  law. 
It  does  not  seem  possible  that  the  motives  could  have  been  the 
same,  nevertheless  the  process  certainly  was  very  similar,  and 
so,  too,  were  the  results.  And  so  it  always  will  be,  for  it  is 
decreed  by  the  inevitable  of  cause  and  effect.  No  good  cause 
will  require  the  suppression  of  discussion,  and  an  evil  cause  will 
be  advocated  by  the  very  attempt  to  prevent  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion of  all  there  is  of  it  and  in  it  and  about  it.  It  is  like  hiding 
straw  from  an  ox, — the  bars  that  separate  the  animal  from  the  feed 
will  incite  the  appetite,  and  infatuate  the  desire  to  obtain  that 
which  otherwise  he  would  trample  under  his  feet.  Bryant  says 
truly : — 

"  Truth  crushed  to  earth  shall  rise  again: 
The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers; 
But  error,  wounded,  writhes  in  pain, 
And  dies  among  her  worshipers." 

In  the  case  of  slavery  the  effort  to  suppress  the  agitation  of  the 
subject  gave  stimulus  to  the  anti-slavery  side  of  the  subject, 
and  so  it  occurred  in  the  discussion  of  the  matter  under  consid- 
eration, for  at  that  very  time  the  double  mode  received  its  death 
stroke  from  the  hands  of  its  own  friends,  and  at  this  time  there 
is  scarcely  a  single  congregation  in  the  German  Baptist  Church 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  435 

that  practices  the  double  mode,  and  the  single  mode  is  universally 
observed  in  the  Brethren  Church.  Hence  the  Old  German 
Baptists  are  the  exclusive  custodians  of  the  double  mode. 

The  reader  must  not  conclude,  however,  that  the  members  of 
the  German  Baptist  Church,  who  now  compose  the  Old  German 
Baptist  Church,  were  the  only  advocates  of  the  double  mode. 
The  great  division  of  the  fraternity  was  not  always  on  the  line  of 
principle.  A  very  large  percentage  of  preference  and  prejudice 
and  feeling  entered  into  the  cause  of  the  separation.  It  is 
remarkable  how  easily  these  people  could  become  reconciled  to 
each  other  after  the  division  had  taken  form.  Shortly  before- 
hand it  was  declared  by  prominent  men  on  both  sides  that  "two 
can  not  walk  together- unless  they  be  agreed,"  implying  that  peo- 
ple could  not  dwell  together  in  peace  in  the  same  church  unless 
they  agreed  upon  all  questions  of  theology.  The  champion  of 
the  double  mode,  for  example,  became  one  of  the  most  inveterate 
persecutors  of  the  Old  German  Baptists,  but  immediately  after 
the  division  he  meekly  submitted  to  the  change  in  the  practice 
of  the  ordinance. 

The  advocates  of  the  double  mode  claimed  that  they  had  the 
prestige  of  annual  meeting  decisions,  and  they  were  determined 
to  make  the  most  of  it.  This  was  true  at  least  up  to  1876.  The 
decision  of  1876  states  that  the  so-called  double  mode  of  feet- 
washing  is  the  recognized  mode  of  the  general  brotherhood; 
therefore,  the  annual  meeting  can  not  grant  the  liberty  prayed 
for,  and  no  church  can  change  from  the  double  to  the  single 
mode  under  authority  of  annual  meeting.  But  they  forgot  that 
what  man  does  man  can  undo,  and  that  annual  meeting  was  a 
fallible  institution,  made  up  of  fallible  men,  and  consequently 
subject  to  changes.  Of  this  fact  they  were  reassured  by  the 
action  of  the  conference  of  1877,  which  decided  that  those 
churches  which  stood  to  observe  the  single  mode,  we  will  bear 
with  if  it  can  be  done  unanimously,  without  causing  trouble  or 
offense  in  the  church.  The  advocates  of  the  double  mode  recog- 
nized this  relaxation,  for  they  say,  "Here  we  notice  that  liberty 
was  granted  by  annual  meeting  to  practice  the  single  mode,  and 


436  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

though  a  caution  was  given  not  to  urge  a  change,  the  caution  was 
not  regarded  as  the  door  was  now  opened."  In  the  year  1879 
they  appointed  five  brethren  to  correspond  with  leading  elders  and 
members  of  other  states  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  their  views 
as  to  what  course  to  pursue. 

The  sentiment  of  many  of  the  letters  received  by  this  commit- 
tee was  to  the  effect  that  the  church  was  "shaking  hands  with  the 
world,"  and  that  "we  can  not  expect  anything  from  annual 
meeting." 

On  November  25,  nearly  all  the  elders  of  the  Miami  Valley 
met  in  council  in  the  Salem  church  to  read  and  consider  the  letters 
reported  by  the  committee.  This  consultation  resulted  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Miami  Valley  petition  of  1880,  which  is  as 
follows : — 

MIAMI    VALLEY    ELDERS^    PETITION. 

"Dear  Brethren:  We  do  hereby  most  earnestly  petition  the 
annual  meeting,  through  the  district  meeting,  to  consider  the 
present  condition  of  the  church  in  her  confused  and  divided  state, 
and  to  make  an  effort  by  which  may  be  removed  the  fast  element 
among  us,  which  is  the  cause  of  the  troubles  and  divisions  in  the 
church. 

"Now,  as  all  former  efforts  have  failed — in  sending  query  after 
query  to  the  annual  meeting,  the  exercising  of  patience  and  for- 
bearance from  time  to  time,  all  of  which  have  accomplished  but 
little,  the  so-called  fast  element  gaining  ground  year  after  year, 
and  one  innovation  after  another  being  introduced  among  us, 
which,  if  suffered  to  continue,  will  lead  the  church  off  into  pride 
and  the  popular  customs  of  the  world  and  the  other  denomina- 
tions— we  think  we  feel  the  propriety  of  a  renewed  effort  on  our 
part  to  accomplish  the  object  of  this  petition. 

"We,  in  southern  Ohio,  have  of  late  years  felt  and  observed  the 
element  more  than  ever,  and  in  serious  meditation  have  we  felt 
the  weight  of  Paul's  language  in  1  Cor.  1  :  10,  and  in  1  Peter 
5:  12.  We,  as  elders  of  the  church,  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
we  trust  has  made  us  overseers,  do  feel  that  dutv  demands  of  us 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  437 

to  make  this  effort,  that  we  may  have  order,  peace,  and  union 
again  restored  among  us.  We  offer  the  following  as  the  rem- 
edy, in  our  wisdom  and  judgment,  whereby  a  union  can  be 
affected,  namely,  to  hold  and  maintain  the  ancient  and  apostolic 
order  of  the  church  in  her  humility,  simplicity,  and  non- 
conformity to  the  world,  and  we  feel  that  we  can  no  longer 
suffer  or  tolerate  those  innovations  in  the  church  of  Christ.  The 
causes  of  the  trouble  must  be  removed  before  peace  and  union 
can  be  restored ;  and  among  some  of  these  causes  are  the  high 
schools  among  us,  popular  Sunday-schools,  with  their  conven- 
tions and  celebrations,  long,  protracted  meetings,  and  the  way 
they  are  generally  conducted,  by  singing  revival  hymns  and  giv- 
ing invitations  to  rise  or  come  forward,  a  salaried  ministry,  and 
the  single  mode  of  feet-washing. 

"Now  the  things  here  named  we  do  not  regard  as  being  in 
harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  neither  are  they  in  har- 
mony with  the  ancient  and  apostolic  order  of  our  church ;  and 
when  we  speak  of  the  ancient  order  of  our  church,  we  have  refer- 
ence also  to  non-conformity  to  the  world,  not  only  in  dress,  but 
in  the  building  and  fancy  painting  of  our  houses,  barns,  etc., 
after  the  customs  of  the  world,  the  gaudy  and  costly  finish  put  on 
them,  and  fine  furniture,  etc.,  to  set  off  our  rooms  and  parlors, 
after  the  fashions  of  the  world,  together  with  fine  and  costly 
carriages,  etc.  In  these  things  we  confess  that  southern  Ohio 
has  gone  too  far  out  of  the  way,  and  we  hope  will  be  willing  to 
reform  and  make  any  sacrifice  for  Jesus'  sake. 

"i:  With  regard  to  high  schools  among  us,  we  fear  they  will 
greatly  operate  against  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  as 
well  as  create  or  cultivate  the  desire  for  an  educated  ministry, 
which  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles,  nor  with  the  ancient  views  of  the  church.  Paul  says, 
'Knowledge  puffeth  up,  but  charity  edifieth/  i  Cor.  8:  i. 
'Mind  not  high  things,  but  condescend  to  men  of  low  estate.' 
Again,  'Be  not  wise  in  your  own  conceits.'  Rom.  12 :  16.  The 
views  of  our  old  brethren  were  in  perfect  harmony  with  the 
gospel  as  regards  this  matter,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the 
following  queries  and  decisions  : — 


438  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

"Annual  meeting  of  1831,  Article  I,  'Whether  it  was  consid- 
ered advisable  for  a  member  to  have  his  son  educated  at  a  col- 
lege? Considered  not  advisable,  inasmuch  as  experience  has 
taught  that  such  very  seldom  will  come  back  afterward  to  the 
humble  ways  of  the  Lord.' 

"Annual  meeting  of  1852,  Article  22,  'How  is  it  considered  by 
the  brethren,  if  brethren  aid  and  assist  in  building  great  houses 
for  high  schools,  and  send  their  children  to  the  same?  Consid- 
ered the  brethren  should  be  very  cautious,  and  not  mind  high 
things,  but  condescend  to  men  of  low  estate.'     Rom.  12 :  16. 

"Annual  meeting  of  1853,  Article  28,  'Is  it  right  for  a  brother 
to  go  to  college  or  teach  the  same?  Considered,  that  we  deem 
colleges  a  very  unsafe  place  for  a  simple  follower  of  Christ,  inas- 
much as  they  are  calculated  to  lead  us  astray  from  the  faith  and 
obedience  of  the  gospel/  And  in  1857,  when  the  subject  again 
came  up,  the  answer  of  the  annual  meeting  is  definitely  given 
thus,  lIt  is  conforming  to  the  world.  Knowledge  puffeth  up,  but 
charity  edifieth.' 

"Thus  we  see  that  high  schools  were  not  permitted  to  come  into 
the  church  for  at  least  twenty-seven  years  after  they  were  first 
urged. 

"2.  Sabbath-schools  we  consider  to  be  more  of  human  origin 
than  by  command  of  Christ  or  His  apostles,  and  hence  are  more 
of  a  worldly  custom  than  of  gospel  principle  and  authority,  and 
are  not  in  harmony  with  the  apostolic  order  of  the  church,  the 
principles  of  the  gospel,  and  were  never  sanctioned  by  the  annual 
meeting  in  the  way  many  are  and  will  be  conducted.  Paul  says, 
'Fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath,  but  bring  them  up 
in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.'  Eph.  6 : 4.  This 
command  is  given  to  parents,  and  not  to  others. 

"3.  Protracted  or  revival  meetings,  in  the  way  they  are  gener- 
ally conducted,  are,  we  claim,  not  in  harmony  with  the  old  order 
and  the  apostolic  rules  of  the  church.  'And  Paul,  as  his  manner 
zvas,  went  in  unto  them,  and  three  Sabbath  days  reasoned  with 
them  out  of  the  Scriptures.'  Acts  17:2.  Again,  'And  he  rea- 
soned in  the  synagogue  every  Sabbath,'  etc.     Again,  'And  when 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  439 

the  Jews  were  gone  out  of  the  synagogue,  the  Gentiles  besought 
that  these  words  might  be  preached  to  them  the  next  Sabbath.' 
Acts  13:42.  'And  the  next  Sabbath  day  came  almost  the  whole 
city  together  to  hear  the  Word  of  God.'     Verse  44. 

"4.  A  salaried  or  paid  ministry  is  also  against  the  apostolic 
order.  Hear  Paul  on  this  subject :  'I  have  coveted  no  man's  sil- 
ver or  gold  or  apparel ;  yea,  ye  yourselves  know  that  these  hands 
have  ministered  unto  my  necessities,  and  to  them  that  were  with 
me.'  Acts  20 :  34.  'What  is  my  reward,  then  ?  Verily,  that 
when  I  preach  the  gospel  I  mav  make  the  gospel  without  charge, 
that  I  abuse  not  my  power  in  the  gospel.'  1  Cor.  9:  18.  Again, 
'Neither  did  we  eat  any  man's  bread  for  naught,  but  wrought 
with  labor  and  travail  night  and  day,  that  we  might  not  be  charge- 
able to  any  of  you.'  2  Thess.  3 :  8.  And  when  Christ  sent  out 
His  disciples  He  forbade  them  the  carrying  or  providing  of  gold 
or  silver  in  their  purses.  These  were  to  constitute  no  part  of  the 
considerations  of  the  labor  before  them. 

"5.  And  with  regard  to  the  subject  of  feet  washing,  what 
method  had  we  best  adopt  to  provide  against  the  troubles  growing 
out  of  having  different  modes  of  performing  the  ordinance  among 
us?  We  hereby  recommend  and  pray  that  the  decision  of  1872 
be  re-adopted  by  this  meeting.  The  subject  was  brought  before 
the  elders  of  that  annual  meeting ;  a  committee  had  been  appointed 
and  a  careful  investigation  made  for  a  final  decision  of  the  matter, 
and  after  this  special  investigation  and  a  thorough  examination 
of  this  matter,  the  annual  meeting  decided  to  'make  no  change 
whatever  in  the  mode  and  practice  of  feet-washing,  and  stop 
the  further  agitation  of  the  subject.'  And  in  1876,  when  it 
again  came  up,  it  was  decided  that  'no  church  can  change  from 
the  double  to  the  single  mode  on  the  authority  of  annual  meeting.' 

"Now,  the  decision  of  1872  should,  we  think,  have  forever 
settled  the  feet-washing  question,  and  to  this  we  desire  to  hold  as 
the  order  of  the  church,  unless  we  can  be  convinced  that  the  double 
mode  is  wrong,  or  that  Christ  will  be  pleased 'with  different  modes 
or  practices  of  worship  in  His  church.  All  do  admit  that  the 
command  is  fulfilled  by  the  ancient  or  general  order,  and  why 


44-0  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

not  abide  by  it  ?  Why  should  we  have  such  troubles  in  these  last 
days  with  an  ordinance  that  has  so  long  stood  under  the  bless- 
ings of  God  while  the  church  prospered? 

"Dear  brethren,  in  order  to  have  permanent  peace  and  union 
restored — which  we  hope  all  are  praying  for — we  will  have  to 
deny  ourselves  of  the  recent  inventions  among  us,  and  fall  back 
and  unite  upon  the  principles  of  the  gospel  and  the  ancient  prin- 
ciples and  apostolic  order  of  the  church.  Upon  this  we  were  all 
once  united  and  satisfied,  until  the  innovations  herein  alluded  to 
crept  in  among  us,  which  are  now  disturbing  our  peace.  Can  we 
not,  dear  brethren,  all  acknowledge  that  we  were  not  watchful  and 
guarded  enough  in  suffering  these  things  to  come  into  the 
church,  and  repent  for  our  want  of  faithfulness?  Forbearance, 
we  think,  is  the  door  through  which  these  things  came  into  the 
church,  one  after  another,  and  now,  it  seems,  there  is  no  door 
to  be  found  by  which  to  get  them  out  again. 

"Do  not,  dear  brethren,  find  fault  with  us,  and  conclude  we 
are  taking  too  much  upon  us.  We  have  with  sorrowful  hearts 
looked  upon  the  very  fast  drift  and  movement  of  things  in  the 
church,  and  as  all  efforts  to  exterminate  from  the  church  the 
things  which  mar  our  peace  have  thus  far  failed,  we  saw  no 
better  source  than  the  one  presented.  Our  plain  decisions  have 
been  disrespected  and  overruled,  and  if  this  state  of  things  shall 
continue  to  exist,  we  will  lose  all  our  power  in  the  controlling  of 
the  church.  We,  for  the  present,  can  see  no  better  plan  by 
which  to  restore  brotherly  harmony  and  peace  than  to  direct  our 
efforts  to  the  causes  from  whence  the  disunion  arises. 

"Now  we  pray,  dear  brethren,  that  this  may  receive  your 
prayerful  and  serious  consideration,  and  our  wish  and  desires 
are  that  it  may  pass  the  annual  meeting  without  any  compromise. 

"Conrad  Brumbaugh,  Samuel  Garver,  Jacob  Miller,  David 
Murry,  George  V.  Siller,  Emanuel  Miller,  Joseph  Arnold,  Eman- 
uel Hoover,  Abraham  Flory,  David  Brumbaugh,  William  Cassel, 
Samuel  Murry,  Nathan  Haywood,  Jesse  Rover." 

This  petition  was  signed  by  a  number  of  elders  from  various 
parts  of  the  brotherhood.     It  was  also  presented  to  the  district 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  44 l 

meeting  of  the  southern  district  of  Ohio,  and  the  district  meet- 
ing consented  to  send  it  to  the  annual  meeting,  although  not 
unanimously. 

The  standing  committee  of  the  annual  meeting  of  1880  formed 
a  condensed  substitute  for  the  petition,  which,  says  the  "Reasons," 
though  it  made  a  plausible  appearance  to  restrict  certain  things, 
it  still  retained  in  the  church  about  all  that  the  petition  wished  to 
have  done  away,  and  consequently  the  answer  did  not  give 
satisfaction. 

This  Substitute  and  Resolutions  and  Answer  are  as  follows : — 
"Whereas,  Our  beloved  fraternity  has  been  considerably  dis- 
turbed by  brethren  holding  extreme  views,  some  being  disposed 
to  enforce  more  rigorously  the  order  of  the  church  in  regard  to 
non-conformity  to  the  world  in  giving  form  to  our  costume,  than 
has  commonly  been  done  by  our  ancient  brethren  ;  while  some,  on 
the  other  extreme,  would  abandon  the  principle  of  non-conformity 
so  far  as  that  principle  has  anything  to  do  with  giving  form  to 
our  costume ;  and, 

"Whereas,  The  principle  of  non-conformity  in  giving  form  to 
our  costume,  as  well  as  in  everything  else,  has  been  a  peculiar  char- 
acteristic of  our  fraternity,  and  is  so  stated  in  our  written  history, 
and  has  had  its  influence  with  our  non-swearing  and  non- 
combatant  and  our  general  principles  identifying  our  fraternity 
with  the  primitive  and  apostolic  church  in  preserving  us  from  the 
extravagant  expenditures  which  both  the  religious  and  secular 
world  have  fallen  into  and  in  obtaining  for  us  as  a  body  the 
character  of  simplicity,  honesty,  purity,  and  uprightness,  in  the 
world ;  and, 

"Whereas,  It  is  thought  by  many,  and  even  so  declared,  that 

as  a  body  we  are  opposed  to  all  improvement  and  progress  ;  and, 

"Whereas,   Contention  and    strife  in  the  church    are    great 

obstacles  in  the    way  of   both    its    holiness    and    its    usefulness ; 

therefore, 

''Resolved,  First,  that  we  will  labor  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel 
and  in  brotherly  love  to  maintain  the  principle  of  non-conformity 
in  giving  form  to  our  costume,  and  in  every  way  that  the 
recognized  peculiarities  of  our  fraternity  require. 


442  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

"Resolved,  Secondly,  that  while  we  declare  ourselves  conserva- 
tive in  maintaining  unchanged  what  may  justly  be  considered 
the  principles  and  peculiarities  of  our  fraternity,  we  also  believe 
in  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  so  adapting  our  labor  and  our 
principles  to  the  religious  wants  of  the  world  as  will  render  our 
labor  and  principles  most  efficient  in  promoting  the  reformation 
of  the  world,  the  edification  of  the  church,  and  the  glory  of  God. 
Hence,  while  we  are  conservative,  we  are  also  progressive. 

"Resolved,  Thirdly,  that  brethren  teaching,  through  the  press 
or  ministry,  or  in  any  way,  sentiments  conflicting  with  the  recog- 
nized principles  and  peculiarities  of  our  fraternity,  shall  be  con- 
sidered offenders,  and  be  dealt  with  as  such.  And  to  specify 
more  particularly  the  subjects  named  in  the  petition,  we  offer  the 
following  as  an  answer  : — 

"i.  Inasmuch  as  there  exists  a  widespread  fear  among  us  that 
the  brethren's  high  schools  are  likely  to  operate  against  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  as  also  likely  to  cultivate  the  desire 
for  an  exclusively  educated  ministry,  to  guard,  therefore,  these 
schools  from  producing  these  effects,  we  think  the  principals  of 
these  schools  should  meet  and  adopt  rules  that  will  prevent  such 
tendency,  and  said  rules  be  in  harmony  with  the  principles  of 
annual  meeting. 

"2.  Sabbath-schools,  when  held  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  may 
be  made  a  means  of  bringing  up  our  children  in  the  'nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord,'  but  should  have  no  picnics  and  celebra- 
tions or  any  vain  things  of  the  popular  Sabbath-schools  of  the 
day  connected  with  them. 

"3.  All  meetings  for  worship  should  be  held  as  our  stated  or 
regular  meetings  are  held,  and  we  be  cautious  not  to  use  such 
means  as  are  calculated  to  get  persons  into  the  church  without 
a  gospel  conversion, — such  as  over-persuasion  or  excitement, 
simply  to  get  them  into  the  church, — but  use  the  gospel  means 
to  get  them  to  turn  away  from  sin. 

"4.  In  regard  to  a  paid  ministry,  we  believe  that  it  is  not  right 
in  the  sense  for  brethren  to  go  and  labor  for  churches  in  the  hope 
of  receiving  monev  for  services,  and  the  offer  of  money  as  an 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS  443 

inducement  to  brethren  to  preach,  but  to  poor  ministers  who  are 
faithful  both  in  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  church,  we 
would  encourage  giving  towards  their  necessity,  as  also  defraying 
the  expenses  of  traveling  in  attending  to  church  interests. 

"5.  Inasmuch  as  our  old  fathers  have  always  admitted  the 
validity  of  the  two  modes  of  feet-washing,  and  as  much  as  we 
desire  a  more  perfect  union  in  this  matter,  we  can  not  condemn 
either  mode  as  being  invalid.  And,  inasmuch  as  former  decisions 
have  failed  to  settle  this  question  to  the  satisfaction  of  all,  we 
advise  more  forbearance  and  liberty  to  the  conscience  of  our 
brethren  in  this  matter,  because  both  have  been  practiced  among 
us,  and  the  best  way  to  stop  the  agitation  of  this  question  is  to 
allow  the  same  liberty  of  conscience  for  our  brethren  that  we  ask 
for  ourselves.  But  this  shall  not  be  construed  to  annul  the 
present  decision  and  advice  of  annual  meeting." 

The  statement  that  the  church  was  "progressive  as  well  as 
conservative"  gave  offense  to  the  old-order  brethren,  although 
they  acknowledged  the  truthfulness  of  the  statement.  They  also 
objected  to  the  decision  in  Article  5,  that  the  best  way  to  stop 
the  agitation  of  the  subject  of  different  modes  of  feet-washing 
is  to  "allow  the  same  liberty  of  conscience  for  our  brethren  that 
we  ask  for  ourselves."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  old-order 
brethren  were  disposed  not  to  be  suited  with  anything  short  of 
the  entire  elimination  of  all  innovations  to  church  observances  of 
the  order  for  fifty  years  preceding  1876,  and  discovering  that 
to  be  impossible,  they  concluded  that  the  only  certain  way  of 
becoming  liberated  from  the  fast  element  was  to  withdraw  from 
it.  If  they  could  not  expel  the  progressive  element  from  the 
church,  they  could  withdraw  or  secede  from  the  church,  and  thus 
become  liberated  from  the  responsibility  of  tolerating  the  evil. 
Accordingly,  another  caucus  was  held  on  November  9,  1880,  at 
which  a  special  meeting  was  appointed  to  be  held  at  the  Wolf 
Creek  church,  Montgomery  County,  December  8,  1880.  To  this 
meeting  all  the  faithful  and  steadfast  brethren— in  the  ministry 
and  at  the  visit — who  were  in  favor  of  the  ancient  and  apostolic 
order  of  the  church,  as  set    forth  in  said    petition,  were    most 


444  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

heartily  invited.  The  meeting  was  advertised;  railroad  privi- 
leges were  secured,  of  which  announcement  was  made  in  the 
I  'indicator.  This  announcement  was  signed  by  Elders  Abraham 
Flory,  Samuel  Garber,  David  Murry,  Samuel  Mohler,  William 
Cassel,  G.  V.  Siler,  Samuel  Murry,  and  Emanuel  Hoover.  And 
all  the  "Brethren  papers  were  requested  to  please  copy." 

We  have  two  reports  of  the  meeting,  but  as  neither  attempts  to 
give  anything  more  than  simply  the  business  transaction,  we 
prefer  to  make  use  of  the  authorized  minutes  as  published  in  the 
"Reasons,"  which  are  as  follows : — 

MINUTES  OF  THE   MIAMI  VALLEY   COUNCIL. 

"At  the  special  or  great  council  meeting  held  with  the  brethren 
of  the  Wolf  Creek  church  on  the  8th,  9th,  and  10th  of  December, 
1880,  brethren  from  the  various  states  being  assembled,  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions  with  regard  to  the  subject  of  feet-washing, 
after  the  evils  of  the  present  manner  of  observing  it  were  fully 
considered,  was  prosposed  and  passed  the  meeting  unanimously  : — 

"Resolved,  That  with  regard  to  the  mode  of  feet-washing,  we 
ask  the  annual  meeting  of  1881  to  readopt  the  decision  of  1872, 
and  repeal  all  decisions  made  since  then  that  do  in  anywise 
favor  or  encourage  the  single  mode.  This  resolution  to  be  sent 
to  the  annual  meeting  of  1881  for  confirmation. 

"The  question  was  asked  the  meeting,  whether  brethren  had 
the  right  to  petition  the  annual  meeting,  and  to  sign  the  same. 
Answered,  that  they  had  the  right  to  do  so  and  sign  it,  of  course. 

"Question  2.  Asked  if  the  committee  of  last  year  authorized 
any  brethren  to  go  abroad  out  of  their  own  territory  to  ordain 
two  brethren.  The  brethren  present  of  the  last  standing  com- 
mittee said  they  gave  no  such  privilege. 

Question  3.  Is  such  a  course  legal?  Answered,  that  adjoin- 
ing elders  should  be  consulted  in  all  such  cases,  and  that  if  such 
work  was  done,  it  was  illegal,  and  the  elders  are  not  bound  to 
recognize  it. 

"A  decision  of  southern  Illinois  was  read  on  the  same  subject, 
which  gives  it  as  wrong  to  do  so.     It  was,  therefore,  decided  that, 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  445 

"Whereas,  Offense  has  been  given  to  churches  by  elders  going 
from  home  and  ordaining  brethren  without  consulting  the  elders 
of  the  adjoining  churches  in  which  the  ordination  is  .made,  and 
contrary  to  the  general  order  of  the  brethren ;  therefore, 

''Resolved,  That  all  elders  be  admonished  not  to  do  as  above 
stated  until  next  annual  meeting,  when  the  duties  of  elders  in 
regard  to  this  work  will  be  more  definitely  defined. 

"A  supplement  to  the  Miami  Valley  Petition  was  read,  but  it 
was  concluded  to  consider  the  petition  first. 

"Commencing  at  the  petition,  the  subject  of  high  schools  was 
first  read.  It  was  found  that  one  great  objection  to  these  schools 
was  that  some  have  assumed  the  authority  to  call  them  and  adver- 
tise them  as  the  'Brethren's  School,'  when  the  annual  meeting 
never  gave  them  such  authority. 

"Query  I.  With  regard  to  high  schools  among  us,  we  fear 
they  will  operate  greatly  against  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  as  well  as  create  or  cultivate  the  desire  for  an  educated 
ministry,  which  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  Christ  and 
the  apostles,  nor  with  the  ancient  views  of  the  church.  Paul  says, 
'Knowledge  puffeth  up,  but  charity  edifieth.'  I  Cor.  8:  I.  'Mind 
not  high  things,  but  condescend  to  men  of  low  estate.'  I  Cor.  I. 
Again,  'Be  not  wise  in  your  own  conceits/  Rom.  12:  16.  The 
views  of  our  old  brethren  were  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  gos- 
pel as  regards  this  matter,  as  will  be  seen  by  references  to  the 
following  queries  and  decisions  : — 

"Annual  meeting  of  1831,  Article  1,  'Whether  it  was  consid- 
ered advisable  for  a  member  to  have  his  son  educated  in  a  college. 
Considered  not  advisable,  inasmuch  as  experience  has  taught  that 
such  very  seldom  come  back  afterward  to  the  humble  ways  of 
the  Lord.' 

"Annual  meeting  of  1852,  Article  12,  'How  is  it  considered  by 
the  brethren  if  brethren  aid  and  assist  in  building  great  houses 
for  high  schools,  and  then  send  their  children  to  same  ?  Consid- 
ered that  brethren  should  be  very  cautious,  and  not  mind  high 
things,  but  condescend  to  men  of  low  estate.'     Rom.  12 :  16. 

"Annual  meeting  of  1853,  Article  28,  'Is  it  right  for  a  brother 


446  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

to  go  to  college  or  teach  the  same?  Considered  that  we  would 
deem  colleges  a  very  unsafe  place  for  a  simple  follower  of  Christ, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  calculated  to  lead  us  astray  from  the  faith 
and  obedience  to  the  gospel.'  And,  in  1857,  when  the  subject 
again  came  up,  the  answer  of  the  annual  meeting  is  definitely 
given  thus:  'It  is  conforming  to  the  world.  Knowledge  puffeth 
up,  but  charity  edifieth.' 

"Thus  we  see  that  high  schools  were  not  permitted  to  come 
into  the  church  for  at  least  twenty-seven  years  after  they  were 
first  urged ;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  this  meeting  petition  the  annual  meeting  of 
1881  to  readopt  the  answer  to  Query  28  of  1853,  with  the  fol- 
lowing amendment :  'It  is  conforming  to  the  world,  and  repeal  all 
the  decisions  that  have  been  made  that  favor  the  high  schools 
conducted  amongst  us  by  the  brethren.' 

"The  above  passed  the  meeting  almost  unanimously. 

"Query  2.  Sabbath-schools  we  consider  to  be  more  of  human 
origin  than  by  command  of  Christ  or  His  apostles,  and  hence  are 
more  of  a  worldly  custom  than  of  gospel  principle  and  authority ; 
are  not  in  harmony  with  the  apostolic  order  of  the  church,  the 
principles  of  the  gospel,  and  were  never  sanctioned  by  the 
annual  meeting  in  the  way  many  are  and  will  be  conducted. 
Paul  says,  'Fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath,  but 
bring  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  Of  the  Lord.'  Eph. 
6 : 4.  This  command  is  given  to  parents,  and  not  to  others ; 
therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  we  petition  our  next  annual  meeting  to  with- 
draw the  right  of  holding  Sunday-schools  in  the  brotherhood. 

"Passed  nearly  unanimously. 

"Query  3.  Protracted  and  revival  meetings,  in  the  way  they 
are  generally  conducted,  are,  we  claim,  not  in  harmony  with  the 
old  order  and  apostolic  rules  of  the  church.  'And  Paul,  as  his 
manner  was,  went  in  unto  them,  and  three  Sabbath  days  rea- 
soned with  them  out  of  the  Scriptures.'  Acts  17:2.  Again, 
And  when  the  Jews  were  gone  out  of  the  synagogue,  the  Gentiles 
besought  that  these  words  might  be  preached  to  them  the  next 


OLD    GERMAN    BAPTISTS.  447 

Sabbath.''  Acts  13  :  4.  'And  the  next  Sabbath  day  came  almost 
the  whole  city  together  to  hear  the  Word  of  God.'     Verse  44. 

"Resolved,  That  this  meeting  petition  annual  meeting  to  revise 
the  answer  of  Article  3  of  the  petition,  so  as  to  read,  'And  we  be 
not  allowed,'  to  use  instead  of  the  words  'be  cautious.' 

"Passed  unanimously. 

"The  answer  as  revised  will  read  thus :  'All  meetings  for  wor- 
ship should  be  held  as  our  stated  or  regular  meetings  are  held, 
and  we  be  not  allowed  to  use  such  means  as  are  calculated  to  get 
persons  into  the  church  without  gospel  conversion, — such  as  over- 
persuasion,  or  excitement,  simply  to  get  them  into  the  church, — 
but  use  gospel  means  to  get  them  to  turn  away  from  sin.' 

"Query  4.  A  salaried  or  paid  ministry  is  also  against  apostolic 
order.  Hear  Paul  on  this  subject:  T  have  coveted  no  man's  sil- 
ver, or  gold,  or  apparel ;  yea,  ye  yourselves  know  that  these  hands 
have  ministered  unto  my  necessities,  and  to  them  that  were  with 
me.'  Acts  33 :  34.  'What  is  my  reward,  then  ?  Verily,  that 
when  I  preach  the  gospel,  I  may  make  the  gospel  without  charge, 
that  I  abuse  not  my  power  in  the  gospel.'  1  Cor.  9:  18.  Again, 
'Neither  did  we  eat  any  man's  bread  for  naught,  but  wrought 
with  labor  and  travail  night  and  day,  that  we  might  not  be 
chargeable  to  any  of  you.'  2  Thess.  3 :  8.  And  when  Christ  sent 
out  His  disciples,  He  forbade  them  the  carrying  or  providing  of 
gold  or  silver  in  their  purses ;  these  were  to  constitute  no  part  of 
the  considerations  of  the  labors  before  tnem. 

"Resolved,  That  this  meeting  urge  the  elders  of  our  fraternity 
to  carry  out  the  decision  as  given  by  last  annual  meeting,  which 
is  as  follows  : — 

"  'In  regard  to  a  paid  ministry,  we  believe  it  is  not  right  in  the 
sense  for  brethren  to  go  and  labor  for  churches  in  the  hope  of 
receiving  money  for  services,  and  the  offer  of  money  as  an  induce- 
ment to  brethren  to  preach,  but  to  poor  ministers  who  are  faith- 
ful in  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  church,  we  would  encour- 
age giving  toward  their  necessities,  as  also  of  defraying  their 
expenses  of  traveling  in  attending  to  church  interests.' 

"The  above  being  disposed  of,  the  condition  of  many  of  the 


448  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

members  in  parts  of  the  brotherhood  was  considered ;  and  it  was 
further 

"Resolved,  That  by  the  general  voice  of  this  meeting,  we  advise 
our  brotherhood  to  bear  with  all  our  brethren  and  sisters  in  the 
several  localities,  who  have  been  threatened  by  a  majority,  who 
perhaps  have  limited  their  time — members  who  seem  to  want  to 
abide  by  the  general  order  and  petition,  and  against  whom  there 
is  no  individual  charge  existing.  The  united  voice  of  this  meet- 
ing is  to  bear  with  all  such  until  the  annual  meeting  shall  con- 
sider the  business  of  this  meeting.  And  we  further  advise  that 
all  those  who  have  been  expelled  for  holding  the  sentiments  in 
the  Miami  Valley  Petition  shall  be  held  as  members  of  the  church, 
and  that  they  shall  not  be  held  to  acknowledge  for  simply  holding 
those  views. 

"Query.  With  regard  to  the  present  missionary  plan,  with  its 
board  of  directors,  etc.,  we  are  not  in  full  harmony  with,  and  do, 
therefore,  offer  the  following: — 

"That  we  ask  the  annual  meeting  of  1881  to  recall  said  decision 
of  last  year,  in  which  we  fear  a  paid  ministry  is  encouraged,  and 
urge  it  earnestly  upon  the  brotherhood  to  be  more  actively 
engaged  in  spreading  the  truth  among  us,  and  to  all  as  much  as 
can  be  done,  but  in  a  more  simple  manner,  after  the  pattern  and 
advice  of  the  church,  as  given  us  heretofore. 

"Decided  by  this  special  council  that  this  paper  shall  be  first 
presented  to  the  district  meeting. 

"The  conduct  of  the  brethren  generally,  and  the  spirit  of 
humility  and  Christian  courtesy  manifested  during  the  time  of 
this  meeting,  was  commendable,  and  had,  we  trust,  its  good 
effects.  The  special  call  for  this  meeting  was  by  many  thought 
to  have  been  quite  needful,  and  it  is  hoped  that  its  salutary  effects 
would  be  felt  and  appreciated  by  all. 

"By  order  of  the  meeting.  Samuel  Kinsey/' 

It  will  be  observed  from  the  proceedings  above  given  that  hope 
had  not  been  entirely  abandoned  of  controlling  general  confer- 
ence, as  all  the  resolutions  passed  were  directed  to  the  annual 
meeting  of  1881,  and  accordingly  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting, 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  449 

with  their  petitions  and  resolutions,  were  presented  to  annual 
meeting  of  1881,  which  was  held  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  that  year.  And 
the  "Reasons"  again  claim  that  their  paper  did  not  come  before 
the  open  council,  but  was  taken  in  charge  by  the  standing  com- 
mittee, and  abridged  and  condensed  into  a  compromised  paper, 
which  passed  the  general  council,  and  is  as  follows : — 

"Accordingly,  this  petition  was  handed  to  the  standing  com- 
mittee. But  now  these  same  annual  meeting  brethren,  who,  on 
December  8,  helped  and  said  it  should  go,  began  to  draw  back, 
saying  that  it  did  not  come  there  legally,  and  would  likely  be 
objected  to.  So  it  was  not  permitted  to  come  before  the  general 
council  for  consideration  in  the  way  it  was  agreed  upon  by  these 
leading  brethren,  but  was  declared  illegal.  None  of  the  leading 
brethren  who  helped  to  send  the  petition  up  again  did  defend  it 
before  the  meeting  save  one.  And  not  only  was  this  petition 
rejected  as  illegal,  but  the  following  was  passed  against  it  at  the 
same  meeting.  Article  22,  'Resolved,  That  the  decision  in  regard 
to  what  is  called  the  Miami  Elders'  Petition  is  as  near  right 
as  any  that  can  be  reached  upon  the  questions  embodied  in  said 
petition,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  brotherhood  demands  that  said 
decision  of  annual  meeting  of  1880  remain  unchanged.' ': 

In  the  spring  of  1880  the  Dry  Creek  church,  Iowa,  had  pre- 
sented a  petition  similar  to  the  one  from  the  Miami  Valley,  which 
had  passed  the  district  meeting  of  middle  Iowa,  and  was  sent 
to  annual  meeting,  but  got  not  farther  than  into  the  standing 
committee.  Rejecting  the  Miami  Valley  Petition,  and  ignoring 
the  Iowa  paper,  and  then  passing  the  above  resolution  destroyed 
all  hope,  and  confirmed  the  old-order  brethren  in  their  opinion 
that  "nothing  could  ever  be  expected  from  the  annual  meeting 
that  would  do  away  with  the  innovations  which  caused  the  trouble 
and  threatened  division;"  and  to  use  and  to  quote  from  "Rea- 
sons:" "Here  laid  the  cause  which  was  now  fully  ripe  for  a 
movement  to  afford  relief.  Here  many  of  the  fathers  and  mem- 
bers over  a  great  portion  of  the  brotherhood,  who  felt  to  hold  on 
to  the  form  of  practice  and  usages  of  the  church,  were  not  only 
disappointed,  but  greatly  discouraged,  and  regarded  it  as  a  waste 
of  time  to  go  to  annual  meeting  again." 

29 


450  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Accordingly,  notice  was  given  through  the  Vindicator  that  a 
meeting  would  be  held  in  the  Ludlow  and  Painter  Creek  church, 
Darke  County,  Ohio,  August  24,  1881.  The  object  of  the  meet- 
ing was  stated  to  be  "that  all  the  faithful  part  of  the  church  may 
consult  for  the  preservation  of  a  unanimity  of  sentiment  in  faith 
and  practice,  and  the  purity  of  the  church."  This  meeting  was 
said  to  have  been  largely  attended.  After  rehearsal  of  griev- 
ances and  the  hopelessness  and  fruitlessness  of  their  efforts  to 
accomplish  any  good  through  the  annual  meeting,  they  finally 
passed  the  following  resolutions  : — 

"Be  it  therefore,  Resolved,  That  we  will  more  strictly  adhere 
to  the  self-denying  principles  of  the  gospel,  as  practiced  by  our 
ancient  brethren  and  as  set  forth  in  our  petition  of  1880,  to 
which  we  wish  to  hold.  With  this  amendment  as  the  petition 
mentions  popular  Sunday-schools,  and  revival  meetings  the  way 
they  are  generally  conducted ;  to  be  more  clearly  understood,  we 
say  that  we  feel  to  suffer  none  in  the  brethren's  church,  and  then 
we  will  be  sure  to  have  no  trouble  with  them.  No  Sunday- 
schools,  no  high  schools,  no  revival  meetings,  no  paid  ministry,  no 
missionary  plans  or  mission  boards,  as  now  granted  by  annual 
meeting.  No  money  soliciting,  or  begging  to  carry  out  such 
plans.  No  single  mode  of  feet-washing,  no  musical  instruments, 
as  pianos,  melodeons,  and  organs,  etc.  No  unlawful  interest  to 
oppress  the  poor. 

"Resolved,  further,  That  we  fully  adhere  to  primitive  Chris- 
tianity as  taught  by  Christ  and  His  apostles,  in  all  His  command- 
ments and  precepts,  as  practiced  by  our  forefathers.  (The  first 
above-named  things  we  do  not  understand  as  belonging  to  prim- 
itive Christianity  as  taught  by  Christ  and  His  apostles.)  And 
that  we  strictly  adhere  to  a  plain  and  decent  uniformity  of  dress, 
as  soldiers  of  King  Immanuel.  That  the  brethren  wear  a  plain, 
round-breasted  coat,  with  standing  collar,  hat,  overcoat,  and 
everything  else  to  correspond.  A  plain  way  of  wearing  the  hair 
and  beard,  no  fashionable  mustaches,  and  no  roached  or  shingled 
hair.  The  sisters  also  to  wear  a  plain,  modest  dress  and  bonnet, 
also  a  plain  white  cap  in  time  of  worship  or  on    going   abroad. 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  451 

In  short,  that  the  brethren  and  sisters  let  their  light  shine  as  a 
light  on  a  candlestick,  and  not  part  or  wholly  under  the  bushel, 
but  to  show  to  the  world  that  we  try  to  possess  what  we  profess. 
And  above  all,  that  brethren  and  sisters  be  more  upon  their  guard, 
and  more  reserved  in  their  conversations,  as  that  'unruly  tongue 
is  doing  much  mischief  among  us.'  " 

The  same  meeting  also  decided  upon  the  following  course  of 
procedure : — 

"Now,  after  this  resolution  is  accepted,  we  advise  that  all  our 
members  be  counseled  in  every  church  in  the  valley,  and  in  all 
other  districts  in  our  brotherhood  that  unite  with  us.  Do  the 
same  to  get  the  minds  of  the  members.  And  we  advise  that  two 
faithful  and  impartial  elders  be  present  at  those  councils,  as  we 
want  nothing  but  honesty  and  fairness.  But  first,  before  any 
council  is  gone  into,  the  members  should  be  well  instructed  and 
enlightened  in  every  point,  showing  no  partiality  nor  forbidding 
brethren  to  give  their  opinion  in  love  on  both  sides.  After  the 
members  are  well  enlightened,  let  each  member  express  his  own 
mind,  that  a  fair  decision  may  be  made,  so  we  can  learn  how  many 
will  stand  united  to  the  ancient  order  of  our  church.  And  if 
some  should  ask  time  to  consider,  let  it  be  granted  them.  To 
such  the  door  of  the  church  is  open.  But  such  as  will  express 
themselves  not  willing  to  stand  united  with  the  ancient  order  of 
our  church,  we  could  not  help  them,  and  if  they  would  afterwards 
change  their  minds  and  wish  to  unite  with  us,  they  will  then  have 
to  enter  legally,  according  to  order,  the  door  of  the  church  to  be 
opened  for  them  also.  But  such  as  will  not  stand  united  with  us 
in  the  apostolic  order  of  our  church  would  then  have  to  be  dis- 
fellowshiped  from  the  old  brethren's  church." 

Signed  in  behalf  of  the  meeting  by  the  following  elders : — 

Abraham  Flory,  Samuel  Garber,  Jacob  Miller,  Nathan  Hay- 
wood, David  Murray,  Conrad  Brumbaugh,  Emanuel  Hoover, 
William  Cassel,  George  V.  Siler,  Joseph  Arnold,  Emanuel  Miller, 
Jacob  Metzger,  David  Wise,  Samuel  Musselman,  and  Stephen 
Metzger. 

It  may  be  said  that  now  the  die  was  cast,  in  which  a  new 
organization  would  be  moulded. 


452  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Had  these  good  people  realized  the  sad  consequences  of  their 
action,  we  doubt  whether  even  their  zeal  for  the  perpetuation  of 
the  landmarks  could  have  inspired  them  to  inaugurate  their  plans. 
Presumably  they  thought  they  might  proceed  peaceably  and 
unmolested  in  opposing  innovations  in  the  brotherhood.  They 
had  decided  for  themselves  to  resort  to  no  coercive  measures,  and 
had  expected  similar  leniency  from  their  conservative  brethren, 
but  in  that  they  were  disappointed,  for  "the  same  evening  after 
the  resolutions  were  adopted,  plans  were  already  talked  of  by 
their  opponents  by  which  they  might  be  defeated.  And  in  a  few 
days  after  active  operations  were  commenced,  by  ordering  visits 
to  be  made  to  members,  and  the  appointment  of  council  meetings. 
Young  elders  sent  visits  to  and  arraigned  old  bishops  who  had 
had  charge  of  congregations  for  a  score  of  years,  and  in  many 
cases  obtained  judgment  against  them,  casting  them  out  of  the 
church.  In  these  actions  they  claimed  and  quoted  in  their  behalf 
the  words  of  Christ:  'Blessed  are  ye,  when  men  shall  hate  you, 
and  when  they  shall  separate  you  from  their  company,  and  shall 
reproach  you,  and  cast  out  your  name  as  evil.' 

"There  were  a  number  of  annual  meeting  leaders  who  went 
from  church  to  church,  conducting  expelling  meetings,  until  hun- 
dreds of  old  and  faithful  members,  deacons,  ministers,  and  elders 
had  been  excommunicated.  In  some  churches  perhaps  only  six 
or  seven  members  stood  by  the  order,  but  the  number  soon 
increased  to  thirty  or  forty ;  in  other  churches  sixty  or  seventy 
went  with  the  old  order,  but  soon  increased  to  double  the  num- 
ber. Many  were  intimidated  by  fear  of  expulsion,  but  constantly- 
increasing  numbers  had  a  tendency  to  allay  such  fears." 

On  September  2  a  council  was  held  in  the  same  church  in 
which  the  resolutions  originated.  In  this  church  the  elder,  two 
ministers,  three  deacons,  and  a  number  of  members  had  already 
been  expelled  for  working  for  the  maintenance  of  the  ancient 
usages  of  the  church,  as  set  forth  in  the  resolutions. 

It  is  claimed  by  them  that  advantage  was  taken  of  them  in  get- 
ting up  the  meeting  and  attempting  to  intimidate  some  of  the 
members.     Ministers  and  old  faithful  elders  were  forbidden  to 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  453 

preach  and  worship  in  the  church-houses  which  they  had  helped 
to  build. 

In  places  where  the  old-order  element  held  the  keys  and  the 
church  officials,  new  locks  were  put  on  the  doors  by  the  conserva- 
tive party.  The  old  brethren  proposed  to  open  the  houses  and 
use  them  alternately,  or  to  divide  amicably,  to  neither  of  which 
the  conservative  party  would  consent.  They  carried  their  oppo- 
sition so  far  as  to  announce  that  the  old-order  ministers  would 
subject  themselves  to  a  fine  of  $500,  by  solemnizing  marriages, 
so  the  "Reasons"  claims.  I  received  similar  notice  by  church 

officials,  while  residing  at  Ashland,  Ohio.  In  order  to  settle  the 
question  of  privileges,  the  judge  visited  my  office,  and  assured 
me  I  could  proceed  with  all  my  official  duties  as  before.  The  old- 
order  brethren  took  the  same  course,  and  received  the  same 
information.  Upon  this  action  they  quote  the  language  of  Paul 
to  Timothy :  "Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly  that  in  the  latter 
times  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  .  .  .  forbidding  to 
marry." 

The  "Reasons"  also  claims  that  many  things  were  said  at  those 
expelling  councils  to  break  down  their  reform  work.  It  was 
even  intimated  that  some  of  those  who  had  been  expelled  might 
be  put  under  the  ban.  It  was  also  predicted  that  the  reform  work 
would  soon  come  to  naught,  as  all  former  factions  which  had 
been  expelled  or  left  the  annual  meeting  party  had  done.  At 
some  places  the  resolutions  were  loudly  denounced  as  being  very 
bad,  and  at  one  council  meeting  they  were  ruled  out  by  the  elder 
in  charge,  although  the  issue  was  whether  to  stand  by  the  reso- 
lution or  remain  with  the  general  brotherhood.  I  quote  again 
from  the  "Reasons,"  on  page  42:  "The  severing  of  churches  in 
such  a  rash  manner,  locking  their  meeting-houses,  and  grasping 
all  the  church  property,  expelling  of  elders  and  ministers  and 
some  of  the  most  faithful  members,  commenced  in  a  few  days 
after  the  meeting  of  August  24,  and  in  about  six  weeks,  twelve  or 
fifteen  churches  in  the  Miami  Valley  had  been  visited.  In  the 
meantime  the  same  work  had  been  carried  on  in  Indiana,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Maryland.     In  this  time  hundreds  had  been  expelled, 


454  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

and  most  of  the  church  property  had  been  taken,  and  the  doors 
locked  against  the  old-order  brethren,  who  made  no  resistance, 
but  endeavored  to  bear  it  with  patience. " 

It  is  but  just  to  say  that  some  who  took  an  active  part  in 
expelling  the  old  fathers  and  mothers  in  Israel  for  standing  by 
the  usages  of  the  church  as  set  forth  in  the  resolutions,  had  them- 
selves signed  the  petition,  but  afterwards  changed  their  course, 
and  took  a  conspicuous  part  in  endeavoring  to  put  down  the  very 
things  they  had  helped  to  bring  about. 

After  the  expelling  work  and  locking  of  church-houses  had 
been  well  accomplished,  it  occurred  to  some  of  the  leaders  that 
their  work  should  be  ratified  by  annual  meeting.  Accordingly, 
at  the  conference  of  1882,  the  following  petition  was  presented : — 

"Whereas,  Certain  elders  and  others  became  aggrieved  at  our 
annual  meeting  in  her  manner  of  doing  business,  and  also  at  some 
of  her  decisions,  and  hence  have  framed  certain  resolutions  in 
which  are  set  forth  the  cause  of  their  aggrievances ;  and  on  the 
24th  of  August,  1881,  they  met  together  from  different  states,  in 
the  Ludlow  and  Painter  Creek  church,  Darke  County,  Ohio, 
where  those  resolutions  were  read,  and  some  remarks  made  upon 
their  merits,  and  after  an  explanation  by  their  foreman,  when  he 
said  'that  all  who  vote  for  these  resolutions  separate  themselves 
from  the  general  brotherhood  and  its  annual  meeting,'  they 
then  took  a  rising  vote  to  ascertain  who  were  willing  to  accept 
their  resolutions,  thereby  causing  a  division  in  the  brotherhood, 
and  especially  in  southern  Ohio,  hence  bringing  about  a  neces- 
sity for  the  elders  and  officers  of  the  church,  who  were  still  will- 
ing to  stand  by  the  general  order  and  usages  of  our  annual  meet- 
ing, to  bring  the  matter  before  their  local  churches,  where  all  that 
have  gone  with  the  resolutions  were  excommunicated  from  the 
church ;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  we  ask  annual  meeting,  through  district  meet- 
ing, to  endorse  the  action  of  the  churches  in  southern  Ohio  and 
elsewhere,  in  regard  to  those  who  have  gone  with  the  resolutions, 
and  also  to  enter  the  same  upon  the  minutes.  Answer :  This 
annual  meeting"  does  endorse  the  action  of  the  churches  which 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  455 

expelled  the  members  who  accepted  the  resolutions  referred  to 
above.'' 

This  action  the  "Reasons"  claims  was  taken  without  inquiry  or 
explanation,  and  that  the  one  who  had  been  instrumental  in  bring- 
ing about  the  division  was  the  first  one  to  move  to  pass  it,  and 
argues  that  it  would  have  been  more  intelligent  if  the  matter  had 
been  brought  to  light  before  the  vote  was  taken,  as  but  few  per- 
sons in  the  conference  understood  the  causes  of  the  expulsions 
or  the  manner  in  which  they  were  brought  about. 

However,  all  the  expulsions  and  closing  of  churches  did  not 
stop  the  work  nor  dampen  the  zeal  of  the  old  brethren.  Other 
denominations  offered  the  use  of  their  churches.  Private  houses, 
barns,  and  schoolhouses  were  freely  opened  to  them,  and  in  fields 
and  groves  large  congregations  would  gather  to  listen  to  the 
Word  spoken  by  those  who  had  been  deprived  of  the  use  of  their 
own  houses  of  worship.  And  so  the  good  work  went  on,  and  in 
a  short  time  hundreds  came  over  from  the  conservative  party. 
Some  who  had  assisted  in  the  expelling  saw  their  mistake,  asked 
pardon,  and  joined  in  with  the  old-order  brethren. 

On  November  25,  1881,  a  meeting  was  held  in  the  barn  of 
Abraham  Landis,  in  the  Salem  church,  Montgomery  County, 
Ohio,  for  the  purpose  of  further  organization.  At  this  meeting 
it  was  decided  that  the  name  of  the  new  organization  should  be 
the  Old  German  Baptist  Brethren.  The  reasons  given  for  the 
using  of  the  word  "old"  was  to  distinguish  them  from  the  new, 
or  those  who  introduced  new  measures  into  the  body.  Arrange- 
ments were  also  made  for  holding  a  yearly  meeting  on  Pentecost, 
1882,  and  Brookville,  Ohio,  was  selected  as  the  place.  Evan- 
gelists were  also  selected  to  help  those  who  had  been  oppressed, 
and  had  sent  their  appeals  to  the  valley  for  assistance. 

The  Old  German  Baptist  Church  was  now  fully  established 
and  ready  for  harmonious  and  active  operation.  At  their  con- 
ference of  1882,  congregations  were  represented  from  nine  differ- 
ent states.  The  meeting  was  largely  attended  from  different 
parts  of  the  brotherhood.  The  business  was  transacted  har- 
moniously, and  in  the  same  simple  manner  in  which  similar  meet- 


456  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

ings  were  conducted  in  days  of  yore.  Elder  Jacob  Metzger  was 
moderator;  Aaron  Frantz,  reading  clerk;  and  Samuel  Kinsey, 
writing  clerk. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  first  standing 
committee : — 

Jacob  Metzger,  of  Indiana ;  John  Harshey,  of  Missouri ;  Abra- 
ham Flory,  of  Ohio;  G.  V.  Siler,  of  Ohio;  Isaac  Pfautz,  of  Mary- 
land ;  Jacob  Root,  of  Illinois ;  Jacob  Flora,  of  Indiana ;  C.  Flory, 
of  Kansas ;  Joseph  Cripe,  of  Illinois  ;  Aaron  Frantz,  of  Ohio ; 
A.  H.  Senseney,  of  Maryland;  Samuel  Kinsey,  of  Ohio;  and 
Daniel  Holsinger,  of  Iowa. 

The  old  system  of  sub-committees  was  agreed  upon,  and  prac- 
ticed in  the  first  conference.  No  new  subjects  were  introduced, 
and  no  new  decisions  made  at  this  first  session. 

The  constant  increase  of  the  church  by  accessions  from  the 
main  body  made  it  necessary  for  them  to  build  a  number  of  new 
churches,  especially  in  Ohio.  In  the  fall  of  1882  a  house  was 
built  in  the  Grove  church,  Miami  County,  Ohio.  The  lot  donated 
to  them  joins  the  lot  on  which  stood  the  conservative  church. 
The  lot  belonging  to  the  old-order  church  had  on  it  'a  spring 
of  water,  from  which  privilege  had  been  granted  to  the  house 
which  had  been  built,  to  be  used  in  common  by  all  parties.  The 
new  building  was  placed  near  the  head  of  the  spring.  After  the 
house  was  on  the  way  the  conservative  party  issued  an  injunc- 
tion, and  stopped  the  process  of  building,  and  the  old  brethren 
were  arraigned  before  the  court.  The  following  is  the  sheriff's 
notice : — 

"You  are  hereby  commanded  to  notify  John  Filbrun,  Samuel 
Studabaker,  Silas  Arnold,  James  Brubaker,  as  trustees  and  dea- 
cons and  pastors ;  Harrison  Shull  and  Joseph  Arnold,  as  pastors 
of  the  Old  German  Baptist  Church  in  Bethel  Township,  Miami 
County,  Ohio ;  James  White  and  James  Berringer,  that  they  have 
been  sued  by  Henry  Gump,  pastor ;  David  Filbrun,  Jacob  Hawver, 
Jacob  Frantz,  as  the  deacons ;  and  Jacob  Coppock,  and  the  trustees 
of  the  German  Baptist  Church  in  Bethel  Township,  Miami  County, 
Ohio,  in  the  court  of  common  pleas,  of  Miami  County,  and  that 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  457 

unless  they  answer,  by  the  ninth  day  of  December,  1882,  the 
petition  of  the  said  plaintiffs  against  them,  filed  in  the  clerk's 
office  of  said  court,  such  petition  will  be  taken  as  true,  and  judg- 
ment rendered  accordingly.  You  will  make  due  return  of  this 
summons  on  the  twentieth  day  of  November,  1882. 

"Witness  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  the  said  court  at  Troy,  this 
sixth  day  of  November,  1882.  J.  B.  Latchford, 

"Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Miami  Co.,  Ohio." 

"I  hereby  certify  that  the  within  summons  and  endorsements 
thereon  is  well  and  truly  copied  from  the  original  summons. 

"J.  M.  Campbell,  Sheriff." 

The  decision  of  the  court  was  that  there  was  no  infringement. 
The  building,  however,  was  delayed  until  winter  set  in,  but  was 
finished  the  following  summer. 

Similar  suits  were  brought  against  the  old  brethren  by  the 
conservatives  in  Cedar  County,  Iowa,  and  Franklin  County, 
Pennsylvania,  but  the  most  notorious  action  that  was  taken  dur- 
ing the  transitionary  period  of  church  trouble  was  issued  on 
February  14,  1883,  when  suit  was  entered  against  the  old-order 
brethren  for  preaching  and  solemnizing  marriages  in  the  name  of 
the  Old  German  Baptist  Church.  I  have  in  my  possession  all  the 
documents  pertaining  to  this  action,  but  will  quote  only  such  parts 
as  appear  to  be  necessary  to  verify  the  statement.  The  follow- 
ing is  from  the  bill :  "The  said  plaintiffs  complain  of  the  said 
defendants  that  they  represent  the  whole  membership  of  the 
German  Baptist  Church  in  Darke  County,  Ohio,  and  that  the  said 
German  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  the  United  States  as 
early  as  1719,  and  still  maintained  its  organization,  and  that  it 
had  ever  since  its  organization  been  styled  and  known  as  the 
German  Baptist  Church,  and  had  been  controlled  by  annual 
meeting;  that  at  different  annual  meetings  harmless  innovations 
were  made,  at  which  the  said  old-order  party  felt  aggrieved,  and 
on  August  24,  1 88 1,  had  passed  certain  resolutions  repudiating 
the  action  and  doings  of  various  annual  meetings  in  regard  to  said 
innovations,  and  finally  withdrew  from  the  general  brotherhood ; 
that  in  consequence  of  said  withdrawal  from  the  membership  of 


458  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

the  German  Baptist  Church,  they  were  excommunicated  from  said 
church,  which  act  of  excommunication  was  confirmed  by  the 
annual  meeting  of  1882.  Plaintiffs  further  complain  that  the 
said  defendants,  disregarding  the  rights  of  the  German  Baptist 
Church,  have  organized  new  congregations  under  the  name  of  the 
Old  German  Baptist  Church,  and  by  means  of  the  use  of  said 
names,  falsely  represented  that  they  are  the  only  true  and  genuine 
Baptist  Church;  are  thus  enabled  to  influence  members  of  the 
said  German  Baptist  Church  to  withdraw  their  connections  from 
said  church,  and  uniting  themselves  with  the  new  organization, 
thereby  disturbing  the  peace  and  harmony. of  the  German  Baptist 
Church,  producing  contentions  in  the  families  of  the  plaintiffs, 
and  creating  bickering  and  strife  between  husband  and  wife  and 
parents  and  children,  members  of  the  said  German  Baptist 
Church.  Plaintiffs  further  aver  that  said  excommunicated  mem- 
bers are  obtaining  license  and  solemnizing  marriages  as  ministers 
in  good  standing  in  said  church,  while  in  fact  they  are  not  min- 
isters in  said  church  in  any  sense  of  the  word;  that  by  thus 
solemnizing  marriages  they  are  interfering  with  the  rights  of 
ministers  in  good  standing  in  said  church,  by  appropriating  the 
emoluments  derived  from  solemnizing  marriages,  which  would 
otherwise  go  to  the  benefit  and  support  of  regular  ministers  in 
said  German  Baptist  Church.  Plaintiffs  therefore  pray  that  they 
may  be  secured  in  the  use  of  the  name  German  Baptist  Church, 
and  that  defendants  be  enjoined  from  appropriating  the  said 
name  or  calling  themselves  the  Old  German  Baptist  Church,  and 
may  be  restrained  from  taking  out  license  as  ministers  of  the  Old 
German  Baptist  Church,  or  of  solemnizing  marriages  as  ministers 
of  the  same." 

The  facts  in  the  above  statement  were  affirmed  to  by  John 
Bolinger  and  Edward  Martin,  on  the  14th  day  of  February,  1883. 

The  old  brethren  met  the  case,  and  the  court  sustained  a 
demurrer,  and  threw  the  case  out  of  court  at  the  cost  of  the 
plaintiffs. 

The  "Reasons"  congratulates  the  Old  German  Baptist  Church 
upon  the  unity  of  practice  and  oneness  of  mind,  which  was  at 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  459 

once  enjoyed  throughout  their  new  brotherhood,  identity  being 
acknowledged  from  the  east  to  the  west,  and  from  north  to  south, 
nearly  one  hundred  churches  having  been  organized  before  the 
close  of  the  year  1883.  They  quote  with  much  satisfaction  the 
motto,  <kBy  good  works  we  constrain  others." 

They  have  continued  to  hold  their  conferences  on  Pentecost  of 
each  year,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Tunker  fraternity,  for 
the  last  one  hundred  years.  The  business  is  much  of  the  same 
kind  as  that  brought  before  similar  meetings  during  the  past 
century.  This  fact  confirms  their  right  to  the  claim  of  old  order 
or  conservatives.  I  endeavored  to  obtain  statistics  of  their 
numerical  and  financial  status,  but  was  prevented  by  their  oppo- 
sition to  all  new  movements.  I  have  learned,  however,  from  the 
Vindicator,  that  they  have  two  hundred  and  four  ministers,  and 
about  two  hundred  congregations  in  the  United  States.  I  also 
endeavored  to  gather  data  from  which  biographies  of  their  most 
eminent  men  might  be  written,  but  failed,  except  with  a  few  of 
the  most  conspicuous  characters. 

OLD   GERMAN    BAPTIST    CHURCH,   DRY    CREEK,    IOWA. 

Elder  Daniel  Holsinger  removed  from  Franklin  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, into  this  congregation  in  April,  1872.  There  were  then 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  members  in  the  church.  Jacob  O. 
Waters  and  Abraham  Stamy  were  ordained  elders.  Thomas  G. 
Snyder  was  a  minister  in  the  second  degree,  and  Solomon  Stamy 
in  the  first  degree.  John  C.  Miller,  in  the  second  degree,  had 
moved  away  several  years  before,  but  returned  about  two  years 
after.  Elder  Waters  died  a  few  years  later.  Then  Martin  Boyd 
was  elected  to  the  ministry,  and  John  Miderheisen,  deacon. 

In  September,  1881,  the  church  divided,  and  the  Old  German 
Baptist  Church  was  organized.  Daniel  Holsinger,  Solomon 
Stamy,  and  Martin  Boyd,  ministers ;  and  D.  Senger,  John  Boyd, 
and  J.  Miderheisen,  deacons ;  and  about  sixty  members  joined 
the  organization.  A  few  years  after  J.  C.  Miller  also  fell  in  with 
the  old-order  church.  All  the  official  members  who  united  with 
the  old  brethren  at  the  time  of  the  division  are  still  living,  but 
three  of  them  have  moved  away. 


460  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

J.    I.    COVER. 

Joseph  I.  Cover  was  born  in  Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania, 
January  25,  1834.  His  parents  were  members  of  the  German 
Baptist  Church.  Early  in  life  he  showed  an  aptness  for  learning, 
and  obtained  a  fair  education.  He  followed  teaching,  dentistry, 
and  farming.  He  married  Eliza  S.  Miller,  of  Somerset,  Penn- 
sylvania, daughter  of  Elder  Jacob  D.  Miller,  in  1857,  and  the 
same  year  embraced  the  gospel  faith  and  was  baptized. 

He  was  chosen  to  the  ministry  in  the  George's  Creek  congre- 
gation, Pennsylvania,  in  1858,  and  ordained  elder  in  1870,  in 
which  office  he  faithfully  served  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
moved  from  Pennsylvania  to  Ohio  in  1882,  and  identified  himself 
with  the  old-order  part  of  the  church.  Here  he  earnestly  taught 
and  labored  for  the  ancient  order.  In  1883,  at  the  death  of  Sam- 
uel Kinsey,  the  editorship  of  the  Vindicator  was  bequeathed  to 
him,  in  which  he  continued  while  he  lived.  He  died  October  28, 
1889,  and  is  buried  in  Sugar  Grove  cemetery,  Miami  Co.,  Ohio. 

ELDER     GEORGE     LONG. 

George  Long  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania,  Sep- 
tember 6,  1823,  moved  to  Shanesville,  Ohio,  in  the  fall  of  1844, 
was  baptized  by  Gabrial  Neff,  at  Rogersville,  June  8,  1845,  was 
married  to  Luanda  Rowe,  August  15,  1850,  moved  to  Owen 
County,  Indiana,  in  the  fall  of  185 1.  He  was.  elected  to  the  min- 
istry, September  28,  1852,  advanced  to  the  second  degree  in  Octo- 
ber, 1856,  removed  to  La  Grange  County,  Indiana,  in  the  fall  of 
1864,  and  was  ordained  in  1867.  He  moved  to  Ionia  County, 
Michigan,  in  the  fall  of  1870,  at  which  place  he  still  resides  and 
continues  to  labor  in  the  gospel. 

He  joined  with  the  old-order  movement  in  the  beginning,  and 
has  continued  a  steadfast  advocate  of  the  cause  of  the  Old 
German  Baptist  Church. 

ELDER     JACOB     PRICE. 

The  lineage  of  Jacob  Price  is  quite  interesting,  and  is  closely 
connected  with  the  history  of  the  Tunker  Church  in  the  United 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS. 


461 


States.  His  great-grandfather  was  born  in  Prussia,  Germany, 
and  emigrated  to  this  country  October,  1719,  when  twenty  fam- 
ilies of  Tunkers  fled  from  the  persecution  of  the  fatherland.  He 
settled  near  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  died  and  was 
buried  at  Indian  Creek,  Montgomery  County.  Elder  Jacob's 
grandfather  was  born  in  Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania,  and 
his  father  in  the  vicinity  of  Waynesboro.  Both  their  names  were 
John  Price,  and  both  are  buried  in  the  Welty  graveyard.  Jacob 
Price    joined    the  Tunker  Church  at    the    age    of    twenty-five 


OLD    ORDER    PRICE     CHURCH. 


years.     In  1845  ne  was  elected  to  the  ministry,  and  in  1867  was 
ordained  a  bishop,  and  he  held  the  office  to  the  end. 

When  the  division  occurred  in  the  Tunker  fraternitv,  Elder 
Jacob  Price  took  sides  with  the  old-order  element,  and  became 
one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  Old  German  Baptist  Church. 
He  was  of  a  very  quiet  and  peaceful  disposition,  and  his  life  was 
consistent  with  his  faith  and  profession.  He  died  October  19, 
1883,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  at 
Price's  Church. 


462  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

ELDER    CHRISTOPHER    FLORY. 

Christopher  Flory  was  born  in  Montgomery  County,  Ohio, 
October  26,  1829;  was  married  to  Mary  A.  Shofner,  of  the  same 
place,  on  May  9,  1852.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  they  moved 
to  Whitley  County,  Indiana.  In  the  year  of  1853,  he  and  his 
wife,  with  Henry  Brumbaugh  and  Indith,  his  wife,  and  Samuel 
Kinsey  and  Barbary,  his  wife,  were  baptized  in  Blue  River. 

In  the  fall  of  1864  they  moved  to  Kansas,  with  their  teams,  and 
settled  on  the  place  where  he  lived  until  his  death,  about  thirty- 
five  years. 

In  1873  he  was  put  to  the  visit  (that  is,  he  was  chosen  to  the 
office  of  deacon).  The  following  year  he  was  installed  into  the 
ministry.  Soon  after  he  was  advanced  to  the  second  degree,  and 
in  1882  was  ordained  to  the  eldership,  in  which  he  served  faith- 
fully. 

He  was  a  very  good  housekeeper  in  the  church, — always  ready 
to  give  good  counsel. 

He  traveled  much  in  Kansas,  Missouri,  Ohio,  and  Indiana.  He 
died  at  his  home  at  Willow  Springs,  on  Christmas  day,  1899. 

ELDER     H.   D.    DAVY. 

Henry  Dorsey  Davy  was  born  in  Tuscarawas  County,  Ohio, 
May  4,  181 1.  His  father's  name  was  John  Davy,  and  his 
mother's  maiden  name  was  Dorsey,  being  related  to  the  family 
of  that  name  in  Maryland.  His  grandfather's  name  was  also 
John.     He  emigrated  from  Wales  in  early  days. 

H.  D.  Davy  and  Elizabeth  Leatherman  were  married  May  31, 
1832.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Elder  John  Leatherman,  who 
moved  from  Maryland  to  Tuscarawas  County,  Ohio,  where 
Elizabeth  was  born.  Date  unknown.  Elder  Davy  was  the 
father  of  fourteen  children,  ten  of  whom  are  yet  living,  namely, 
Catherine,  wife  of  Elder  Sidney  Hodgden ;  Ruth,  widow  of 
Samuel  Clawson ;  John  L.,  Ezra  J.,  W.  W.,  Doctor  Jesse  P., 
Mary  A.  C,  wife  of  William  Gilmore  ;  Jacob  A.  (attorney),  Henry 
D.,  Jr.,  and  Elias  S. 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  463 

Brother  Davy's  first  wife  died  in  1850,  and  his  second  marriage 
occurred  during  the  same  year.  His  second  wife,  Catharine 
Bosteter,  was  also  a  member  of  the  German  Baptist  Church. 

After  his  first  marriage  he  moved  to  Delaware  County,  Ohio, 
then  a  wilderness,  and  cleared  one  hundred  acres  in  a  short  time. 
He  joined  the  Tunkers  in  1838,  and  was  baptized  by  Elder  John 
Mulsbaugh.  He  was  elected  to  the  ministry  in  1845,  in  tne  Owl 
Creek  church,  Knox  County,  Ohio,  being  the  nearest  organiza- 
tion to  his  home,  and  there  he  was  called  to  the  ministry  at  the 
same  time  with  Brother  Abraham  H.  Leedy. 

Elder  Davy  first  served  as  moderator  of  annual  meeting  in 
1865,  at  Antietam,  Pennsylvania,  and  continued  to  serve  consec- 
utively, until  1876,  a  longer  term  than  any  other  man  has  ever 
held  the  same  office.  He  was  the  most  dignified  and  efficient 
chairman  that  ever  swayed  the  scepter  over  a  Tunker  conference. 
Being  of  a  pleasant  countenance,  he  could  order  a  brother  to  take 
his  seat,  or  inform  him  that  he  was  out  of  order,  without  any 
danger  of  giving  offense.  He  was  a  natural  diplomat  and 
peacemaker. 

In  his  home  and  community  Brother  Davy  was  regarded  as  a 
man  of  keen  perception,  with  good  foresight,  honest  convictions, 
and  unflagging  industry.  He  was  strictly  a  self-made  man, 
having  had  but  three  months'  schooling,  in  the  common  schools 
of  Ohio.  Catharine  and  her  husband,  Mary  A.  C.  and  her  hus- 
band, are  members  of  the  German  Baptist  Church ;  and  John  L. 
and  William  W.  belong  to  the  Old  German  Baptist  Church. 

From  his  sermons  no  one  would  have  taken  Elder  Davy  as  an 
illiterate  person,  his  spoken  language  being  of  good  style,  and  his 
vocabulary  above  the  ordinary  of  Tunker  preachers.  In  the  field 
of  literature  Elder  Davy  never  made  any  pretense.  His  only 
effort  in  the  line  of  books  was  in  connection  with  Elder  James 
Ouinter,  in  the  compilation  of  the  book  of  minutes  of  annual 
meetings.  This  work  was  not  one  of  his  own  choosing,  having 
been  appointed  to  the  duty  by  the  conference  of  his  church. 
With  a  liberal  education  Henry  D.  Davy  would  have  been  the. 
peer  of  the  best  men  in  any  denomination  in  the  country. 


464  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

In  the  general  division  of  the  Tunker  Church  Elder  Davy 
chose  the  Old  German  Baptist  Church,  in  which  he  served  as 
moderator  of  their  yearly  meetings  on  several  occasions. 

He  died  at  his  home  near  Fletcher,  Miami  County,  Ohio, 
September  7,  1895,  aged  eighty-four  years.  His  second  wife 
died  February,  1896,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 

ELDER    SAMUEL    KINSEY. 

Samuel  Kinsey  was  a  son  of  Joel  and  Elizabeth  Kinsey,  and  of 
Virginia  ancestry.  His  grandfather,  Christian  Kinsey,  came 
from  Virginia  to  Ohio  in  the  early  days  of  its  settlement,  and 
located  in  Montgomery  County,  about  ten  miles  northeast  from 
Dayton. 

When  he  came  to  Ohio,  he  settled  on  what  is  since  known  as 
the  Troxel  farm.  This  farm  he  cleared,  and  here  he  reared  a 
family  of  five  children.  He  remained  here  until  he  reached  old 
age,  and  then  removed  to  Whitley  County,  Indiana,  where  he 
died  shortly  after,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years. 

He  was  a  consistent  member  of  the  Tunker  Church,  and  a 
deacon  for  some  years. 

Joel  Kinsey,  eldest  son  of  Christian  and  father  of  Samuel,  was 
born  in  Virginia,  and  was  quite  young  when  his  parents  came 
to  Ohio.  He  was  reared  on  the  farm,  and  received  such  educa- 
tion as  was  available  in  the  county  at  that  early  period.  He 
remained  on  the  farm  with  his  father  until  he  became  of  age, 
and  soon  after  this  united  himself  in  marriage  to  Elizabeth  Brum- 
baugh, who  had  formerly  come  with  her  parents  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  settled  in  the  same  neighborhood.  Shortly  after  their 
marriage  they  moved  to  Williams  County,  thence  to  and  settled  in 
Miami  County,  near  Covington.  Here  he  died  at  the  age  of 
thirty-three  years,  leaving  his  family  with  rather  limited  means. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Brethren  Church.  His  children  were 
Samuel,  Lydia,  Noah,  and  David. 

Samuel  Kinsey  was  born  near  Covington,  May  25,  1832. 
After  the  death  of  his  father  he  went  to  live  with  his  uncle,  Levi 
Kinsey,  who  resided  near  Clayton,  Ohio.  Here  he  received  a 
common-school  education. 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  465 

When  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  old  he  commenced  learning  the 
carpenter's  trade.  A  year  or  two  later  he  went  to  Indiana,  where 
he  plied  his  trade  in  his  own  behalf.  Here  he  was  successful, 
and  shortly  after  purchased  a  small  piece  of  land,  upon  which  he 
erected  some  buildings,  and  opened  up  a  general  country  store. 
Shortly  after,  he  succeeded  in  having  a  post-office  located  in  the 
village  of  his  adoption,  Bloomfield. 

In  1852  he  returned  to  Ohio,  and  married  Barbara  Nead, 
daughter  of  Elder  Peter  Nead.  They  were  blessed  with  a  fam- 
ily of  thirteen  children,  namely,  Mary  E.,  Cynthia,  Clarinda,  Wil- 
liam N.,  Lydia,  Sarah,  Ellen  B.,  Lucretia,  Ida,  Charles  E.,  Jesse 
E.,  and  Allen. 

Shortly  after  marriage  they  returned  to  Indiana,  but  remained 
only  a  year  or  two,  when  they  sold  their  property  and  went  back 
to  Ohio.  Here  he  took  charge  of  his  father-in-law's  place,  and 
farmed  it  for  a  share  of  the  products.  A  few  years  later  he  pur- 
chased a  small  tract  of  land  adjoining  this.  By  economy  and 
industry  he  added  more  from  time  to  time,  until  he  finally  was  in 
possession  of  a  small  home  for  himself  and  family. 

Being  somewhat  interested  in  horticulture,  he  began  the  propa- 
gation of  nursery  stock  in  a  small  way,  as  early  as  1855.  He 
did  his  own  grafting  and  building  at  first.  He  was  successful 
in  his  new  undertaking,  and  increased  his  assistants  from  year 
to  year.  By  persistent  labor  and  perseverance,  and  by  a  system 
of  fair  and  liberal  dealing,  he  gained  for  his  nursery  a  good  repu- 
tation, which  brought  him  increased  trade  from  all  over  the 
country.  At  this  time  his  business  transactions  and  all  shipping 
were  done  from  Dayton,  but  by  the  construction  of  a  new  line  of 
railroad  in  the  year  1880,  which  touched  at  his  place,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  having  located  near  his  home  a  station,  also  a  post- 
office  and  express  office,  designated  as  Kinsey,  and  thereafter  all 
his  business  was  transacted  from  this  office. 

He  and  his  wife  were  both  members  of  the  Brethren  or  Ger- 
man Baptist  Church,  having  connected  themselves  with  that 
denomination  early  in  1853.  He  was  first  elected  by  his  church 
to  the  office  of  deacon,  some  time  later  to  the  ministry,  and  in 
1882  he  was  ordained  elder. 

30 


466  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

In  1870  he,  with  the  assistance  of  his  father-in-law,  Elder 
Peter  Nead,  established  a  religious  monthly  paper,  called  The 
I  Indicator,  which  is  still  published  in  the  interest  of  the  Old 
German  Baptist  brethren. 

During  the  last  eight  or  ten  years  of  his  life  he  gave  the  man- 
agement of  his  financial  and  business  affairs  largely  into  the  care 
of  his  eldest  son,  William,  and  others,  devoting  his  time  princi- 
pally to  his  ministerial  duties  and  other  church  work.  He  mani- 
fested a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  church,  and  labored 
much  in  the  cause  of  his  Master.  He  was  called  from  his  home 
much,  and  the  remainder  of  his  time  was  devoted  to  corre- 
spondence and  editorial  work  on  his  paper. 

He  ever  contended  for  the  ancient  principles  and  faith  of  the 
gospel,  as  taught  by  our  Saviour,  held  forth  by  the  apostles, 
and  handed  down  to  us  by  the  fathers  through  the  church. 

He  was  opposed  to  the  changing  of  the  observances  of  the 
house  of  God,  and  also  to  the  introduction  into  the  church  of  new 
things,  which  in  their  nature  were  contrary  to  the  sanction  of 
holy  writ,  claiming  that  these  innovations  would  engender  pride, 
and  thereby  cause  the  church  to  deviate  from  the  true  principles 
of  Christianity. 

When  the  German  Baptist  Church  divided,  in  1881,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  introduction  into  her  of  some  new  issues  and  the 
agitation  of  others,  Elder  Kinsey  stood  with  the  old-order  branch 
of  the  church,  laboring  with  them  faithfully  in  the  cause  of  the 
truth  until  his  death. 

During  his  connection  with  the  brethren  he  wrote  several 
books  and  pamphlets  on  various  subjects  of  Scripture,  some  of 
which  are  these:  "The  Pious  Companion,"  "The  Parable  of  the 
Supper,"  "Forward  and  Backward  Mode  of  Baptism,"  "Plain 
Remarks  on  Light-mindness." 

He  died  at  his  home  after  a  short  illness  of  about  two  weeks, 
with  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  June  8,  1883,  aged  fifty-one  years 
and  twelve  days,  leaving  a  widow  and  eleven  children. 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  467 

ELDER     PETER     NEAD. 

Peter  Nead  was  born  of  Lutheran  parents,  at  Hagerstown, 
Maryland,  January  7,  1796.  He  was  a  son  of  Daniel  Nead,  a 
farmer  and  the  owner  of  a  tannery.  His  mother  died  when  he 
was  quite  young.  His  Grandfather  Nead  was  yet  living,  and 
took  a  great  interest  in  his  grandson,  and  offered  to  educate  him 
for  a  Lutheran  minister.  But  Peter  was  not  so  inclined,  and  did 
not  accept  his  offer.  He  was  sent  to  school,  and  acquired  what 
was  at  that  time  considered  a  good  education. 

He  had  three  brothers  who  lived  to  manhood,  Matthias,  Daniel, 
and  John.  Matthias  was  a  Lutheran.  He  lived  and  died  in 
Greencastle,  Pennsylvania.  Daniel  and  John  were  both  Tun- 
kers,  and  labored  in  the  ministry.      Both    died    in    Tennessee. 

Peter  was  first  a  Methodist,  and  served  as  a  class-leader.  But 
he  seemed  not  satisfied  with  the  Methodist  faith,  and  for  several 
vears  he  stood  alone,  during  which  time  he  went  about  preaching, 
traveling  from  place  to  place,  making  appointments  where  they 
admitted  him.  He  kept  a  record  of  his  travels  and  appointments 
connected  with  his  labor  during  these  few  years. 

About  this  time  there  chanced  to  fall  into  his  hands  a  pamphlet, 
written  by  Elder  Benjamin  Bowman,  title  not  known,  from  which 
he  first  learned  of  the  Tunkers.  He  was  much  pleased  with  the 
doctrines  and  ideas  advanced  in  this  little  work,  and  he  deter- 
mined, if  possible,  to  find  those  people,  and  learn  something  more 
about  them.  Accordingly,  he  made  his  way  into  a  settlement 
of  the  brethren,  and  attended  one  of  their  communions.  Here, 
upon  learning  farther  of  the  doctrine  as  held  forth  by  the  breth- 
ren, and  seeing  how  strictly  they  observed  the  ordinances  of  the 
New  Testament,  he  concluded  that  these  were  the  humble  fol- 
lowers of  the  Lord,  and  so  made  application  for  admission  into 
the  church,  and  was  received. 

He  had  not  been  a  member  of  the  church  very  long  until  he 
was  elected  to  the  ministry.  The  preaching  of  the  brethren  at 
this  time  was  mostly  in  the  German  language,  but  a  desire  began 
to  be  manifested  for  the  English  also,  and,  as  Brother  Nead  spoke 


468  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

the  English,  his  labors  were  much  sought.  In  fact,  for  a  long 
time  he  went  by  the  name  of  the  "English  Preacher." 

About  this  time  he  became  acquainted  with  Elizabeth  Yount, 
of  Broadway,  Rockingham  County,  Virginia.  They  were  mar- 
ried December  20,  1825.  Here  he  settled,  and  carried  on  the 
tannery  business,  teaching  school  in  the  winter  seasons.  In  the 
year  1833  ne  wrote  his  "Primitive  Christianity,"  which  he  had 
printed  at  Staunton,  Virginia.  It  was  one  among  the  first 
books  written  by  the  brethren,  perhaps  the  very  first  of  its  size, 
and  as  it  treated  of  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord's  house  and  the 
first  principles  of  the  gospel  in  a  plain  and  comprehensive  man- 
ner, it  met  with  pretty  general  circulation,  and  did  much  to 
enlighten  the  minds  of  those  who  read  it,  and  was,  no  doubt,  the 
means  of  bringing  a  number  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

In  1840  he  moved  to  Augusta  County,  Virginia,  where  he  lived 
about  three  years,  and  then  moved  to  Botetout  County,  where  he 
remained  about  five  years. 

In  1845  ne  wrote  a  pamphlet  treating  on  "Baptism  for  the 
Remission  of  Sins;  Faith  Alone,  and  Prayerless  Doctrine  Con- 
sidered; The  Present  State  of  the  World,  Corrupted  Christen- 
dom, and  the  true  Church  of  Christ."  This  he  had  printed  at 
Fincastle,  Virginia. 

In  1848  or  1849  ne  moved  to  Ross  County,  Ohio,  but  remained 
only  a  few  months,  when  he  moved  to  Montgomery  County,  set- 
tling first  in  the  district  of  the  Bear  Creek  congregation  near 
Trotwood,  and  a  little  later  in  the  district  of  the  Lower  Still- 
water church,  locating  on  a  farm  nine  miles  northwest  of  Dayton, 
where  he  remained  until  his  death. 

In  1850  he  compiled  his  book,  "Nead's  Theology,"  which  com- 
prised his  first  works,  with  an  addition  of  sixty-seven  pages, 
making  it  a  volume  of  four  hundred  and  seventy-two  pages.  Of 
these  works  two  editions  have  been  printed.  The  book  has  been 
much  called  for,  and  the  last  edition  is  now  exhausted. 

In  1866  he  wrote  his  book  entitled  "Wisdom  and  Power  of  God 
as  Displayed  in  Creation  and  Redemption."  This  work  is  still 
in  stock. 


OLD    GERMAN     BAPTISTS.  469 

For  nearly  thirty  years  he  resided  at  one  place,  and  almost  his 
entire  time  during  this  period  was  spent  in  the  cause  of  his  Mas- 
ter, attending  meetings  for  preaching  and  meetings  for  business. 
He  was  considered  an  able  counselor,  and  hence  was  often  called 
from  home  to  church  councils. 

His  one  great  concern  was  for  the  church  and  her  welfare,  and 
he  labored  constantly  to  this  end,  even  to  the  last. 

It  was  principally  through  his  efforts  and  suggestions  that  the 
publication  called  Vindicator  was  started,  so  that  through  its 
pages  the  firm  and  faithful  might  have  a  medium  to  combat  the 
numerous  innovations  that  were  being  introduced  into  the  church 
contrary  to  his  views.  His  articles  in  the  Vindicator  were 
headed,  "Restoration  of  Primitive  Christianity." 

His  voice  was  loud  and  strong,  and  his  discourses  were  inter- 
esting and  edifying.  He  had  a  good,  strong  mind,  so  far  as  the 
Scriptures  were  concerned.  His  vision  was  excellent,  and  he 
never  had  occasion  to  wear  glasses. 

He  had  four  children.  Samuel,  the  eldest,  moved  to  Indiana, 
and  is  a  farmer.  Daniel  practiced  law  at  Dayton.  He  died  in 
1862.  Mary  died  in  1889.  Barbara  is  still  living  on  a  part  of 
the  farm  where  her  father  died,  near  Kinsey. 

He  had  good  health  until  his  last  illness,  which  was  of  short 
duration.  He  died  of  erysipelas,  March  16,  1877,  aged  eighty- 
one  years  two  months  and  nine  days. 

I  was  personally  acquainted  with  Peter  Nead,  and  distinctly 
remember  his  first  visit  to  my  father's.  It  was  some  time 
between  1844  and  1847,  wnen  we  lived  on  tne  Dnickamiller 
place,  two  miles  south  of  Martinsburg,  Pennsylvania.  When  he 
bade  mother  good-bye,  she  sent  her  love  to  Sister  Nead,  saying 
she  supposed  she  would  get  very  lonesome  during  his  long  visit 
from  home,  to  which  he  replied,  "I  have  a  little  wife,  but  she  has 
a  big  heart." 


CHAPTER   XIV 
BRETHREN   CHURCH— HISTORICAL 

Transitional — This  period  will  parallel  with  the  prehistoric,  in 
the  history  of  the  Tunkers.  It  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with 
the  publication  of  the  Gospel  Visitor,  the  first  publication  in  the 
brotherhood  since  the  days  of  Christopher  Saur.  It  was  first 
regularly  issued  during  the  year  18*51,  eight  pages,  octavo, 
monthly.  It  was  a  small  affair,  indeed,  compared  with  the 
religious  weeklies  of  the  present  time,  but  it  was  a  mighty  engine 
among  our  people.  It  afforded  the  three  essential  elements  of 
success  to  every  public  cause, — acquaintance,  communication,  and 
cooperation.  Although  but  a  youth,  and  not  yet  a  member  of 
the  church,  I  distinctly  remember  my  emotions  on  first  sight  and 
handling  of  our  church  paper,  and  with  what  interest  I  read 
every  column.  What  it  was  to  me  it  was  to  all  young  Tunkers 
of  like  tendencies.  If  the  paper  was  not  so  well  adapted  to 
our  fancies,  our  fancies  were  adjusted  to  our  reading  matter, 
which  was,  perhaps,  just  as  it  should  be,  even  in  this  enlightened 
age  with  its  abundant  literature.  With  the  appearance  of  the 
Visitor  was  ushered  in  the  progressive  era  in  the  Tunker  Church. 
It  was  so  prophesied  by  its  opposers,  and  we  must  do  them  the 
honor  of  stating  that  they  were  true  prophets,  in  this  case.  Most 
of  them  enjoyed  its  fulfilment,  but  many  did  not. 

One  of  the  first  tangible  fruits  of  the  progressive  era  that 
dawned  upon  these  people  was  the  publication  of  the  Christian 
Family  Companion,  a  weekly  paper,  published  at  Tyrone,  Penn- 
sylvania, by  Henry  R.  Holsinger,  the  first  regular  issue  of  which 
is  dated  January  3,  1865.  Holsinger  had  served  an  apprentice- 
ship of  one  year  in  the  office  of  the  Visitor,  at  Poland  and  Colum- 
biana, Ohio.  He  never  had  been  inside  of  a  printing  office,  nor 
saw  a  type,  before  he  entered  the  office  to  learn  the  trade.  He 
had  only  the  commonest  of  a  common-school  education,  and  no 
experience    in    composition    before    entering    the  Visitor    office. 

(470) 


■■■    -:■■:    ■":'    ■     ..: 


JLOS- 


km 


a/3 


SCHOOLHOUSE     No.     7,     IN    WHICH    THE    PROGRESSIVE     BRETHREN    HELD    THEIR     FIRST 
CONFERENCE    AFTER     THEIR     EXPULSION  BY  THE  ANNUAL  MEETING 


472  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

He  endeavored  to  persuade  Elder  Kurtz,  the  editor  and  propri- 
etor of  the  Visitor,  to  change  the  paper  to  a  weekly,  and  give  him 
a  place  on  the  staff.  But  Elder  Kurtz  did  not  think  the  time  had 
yet  come  when  a  weekly  paper  could  be  supported  by  patronage, 
or  sustained  by  original  contributions  to  give  it  dignity.  Besides, 
he  had  two  sons  who  could  manage  the  business  if  he  should  con- 
clude to  launch  out  further.  And  so  I  returned  to  my  home, 
in  Morrison's  Cove,  Pennsylvania,  and  engaged  in  teaching 
school  during  the  winters  and  working  for  the  farmers  in  summer 
time,  until  the  spring  of  1863,  when  I  purchased  a  newspaper 
office  at  Tyrone,  Pennsylvania,  and  established  the  Tyrone  Her- 
ald, in  the  interests  of  the  new  Republican  party.  That  was 
during  the  darkest  days  of  the  Rebellion.  However,  I  was  fairly 
successful  during  the  first  eighteen  months,  and  might  have 
succeeded  in  the  secular  department,  but  politics  was  distasteful 
to  my  religious  inclinations ;  besides,  I  had  a  preference  to  direct 
a  religious  paper.  Having  had  opportunity  during  my  appren- 
ticeship to  read  much  of  the  correspondence  which  came  to  that 
office,  I  was  persuaded  that  a  strong  desire  for  a  weekly  paper 
prevailed  in  the  brotherhood.  I  had  also  read  in  Elder  Kurtz' 
waste-basket  some  communications  which,  while  they  may  not 
have  been  very  dignified,  were  interesting  and  spiritual.  They 
were  probably  excluded  from  the  columns  of  the  Visitor  for  lack 
of  room,  or,  more  likely,  because  they  required  to  be  rewritten. 

And  so,  after  obtaining  the  sanction  of  the  middle  district  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  the  spring  of  1864,  The  Companion  was  sent 
out  on  the  first  of  January,  1865.  By  previous  prospecting  with 
two  specimen  copies,  a  subscription  list  of  four  hundred  and 
eighty-four  names  had  been  secured.  No  money  was  taken  until 
the  first  number  had  been  sent  out. 

This  paper  met  with  remarkable  success  from  the  first  number 
issued.  The  publisher,  being  conscious  of  his  inability  as  a  writer, 
offered  inducements  to  his  patrons  to  contribute  to  its  columns. 
A  free  rostrum  was  announced  for  the  discussion  of  all  subjects 
pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  church.  Any  person  who  was 
able  to  communicate  an  idea  to  the  comprehension  of  the  editor 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  473 

was  sure  to  appear  in  the  paper.  No  matter  how  scrawling 
the  handwriting,  or  how  stammering  his  words,  the  article  would 
be  put  into  good  shape.  This  feature  was  very  encouraging  to 
young  authors,  and  old  men  who  had  experience  in  public  speak- 
ing but  none  at  all  in  writing. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  paper  was  that  every  contributor  was 
required  to  write  under  his  own  signature.  In  this  way  authors 
were  brought  face  to  face  with  each  other,  and  required  to  meet 
the  issue  of  their  individual  productions.  The  first  work  under- 
taken was  to  remove  certain  hindrances  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
church.  As  in  the  case  of  the  young  prophet  Josiah,  it  appeared 
that  the  book  of  the  law  had  been  lost  in  the  rubbish  of  tradition. 
It  was  imperative  that  this  dead  weight  be  removed  before  the 
light  of  intelligence  could  shine  upon  the  sacred  page  with  such 
brilliancy  as  to  reflect  into  the  hearts  of  mankind.  One  of  these 
hindrances  was  called  "avoidance ;"  for  a  full  description  of  the 
meaning  of  the  term  see  Glossary.  This  was  no  easy  task,  as  it 
was  an  ordinance  of  the  church  of  long  standing,  and  in  great 
favor  with  a  certain  class  of  church  dignitaries.  An  educated 
ministry  was  advocated,  and  with  it  an  approximate  support  of 
the  ministry. 

In  fact,  the  church  was  in  great  need  of  reformation.  One 
unfortunate  feature  in  the  state  of  the  church  at  this  time  was 
that  the  congregations  were  in  the  care  of  incompetent  bishops. 
By  incompetence  insufficiency  is  meant  in  literary  attainments, 
and  all  such  shortcomings  as  may  result  from  such  condition. 
And  no  one  suffered  more  personal  humiliation  from  this  state 
of  affairs  in  the  church  than  the  writer.  And  we  doubt  whether 
any  other  person  in  the  brotherhood  had  equal  opportunity  of 
knowing  the  facts  as  they  existed,  being  the  editor  of  the  only 
weekly  paper  at  that  time.  We  had  letters  of  a  business  char- 
acter from  almost  every  bishop,  relating  to  some  feature  of  church 
work,  from  every  housekeeper,  or  some  deputy  into  whose  con- 
gregation the  paper  circulated.  And  those  who  did  not  take  the 
paper  could  safely  be  set  down  as  prejudiced  or  uninformed. 

I  can  even  now  close  my  eyes  and  name  a  dozen  churches  with 


474  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

whose  elders  I  was  personally  acquainted  who  could  not  read 
intelligently  a  chapter  from  the  Bible  or  a  hymn  from  a  hymn- 
book,  nor  write  an  intelligent  notice  or  announcement  of  a  com- 
munion meeting  for  the  paper.  Some  of  them  could  deliver  a 
pretty  fair  discourse  in  an  extemporaneous  way,  more  or  less 
satisfactory  to  the  people  of  the  community  in  which  they  lived, 
but  the  more  discreet  of  them  could  not  attempt  to  preach  at  a 
strange  place  or  in  a  town.  Morally,  they  stood  among  the  very 
best  people  in  the  community.  They  were  honored  of  all  men, 
independent  of  party,  sect,  or  caste,  for  honesty,  truthfulness, 
integrity,  hospitality,  and  general  benevolence.  Had  they  been 
enabled  to  live  the  same  Christian  life  in  the  private  ranks,  it  would 
have  been  said  of  them,  ''Behold,  a  perfect  and  an  upright  man, 
one  that  feareth  God  and  escheweth  evil."  Job  I  :  8.  But  the 
very  fact  that  he  was  a  bishop,  with  all  the  virtues  of  a  good  man 
and  none  of  the  qualifications  of  his  official  standing,  militated 
against  him,  and  in  many  cases  entirely  destroyed  his  official 
influence.  The  office  of  a  bishop  carries  with  it  more  than  piety 
and  spirituality,  even  according  to  the  sacred  oracles.  It  bears 
with  it  a  fitness  to  teach  and  a  capability  to  use  sound  doctrine, 
to  exhort  and  to  convince  gainsayers.  And  even  more  so  accord- 
ing to  the  usages  of  church  and  in  religious  literature.  When  a 
Methodist  bishop  comes  into  a  community  everybody  is  expect- 
ant, and  nobody  is  disappointed,  because  no  Methodist  minister 
can  become  a  bishop  unless  he  can  preach  anywhere.  This  rule 
is  inflexible,  and  so  it  ought  to  be,  for  the  Word  of  God  declares 
that  a  bishop  "must  be  fit  to  preach."  The  Tunker  people  appear 
to  have  lost  sight  of  the  essential  qualifications  of  this  important 
official.  It  may,  indeed,  have  been  that  men  with  the  proficiencies 
under  consideration  were  hard  to  find  in  most  of  the  churches,  but 
the  fact  remained  that  they  were  not  sought  for  nor  accepted 
when  pointed  out  or  nominated.  There  were  other  essentials,  in 
the  estimation  of  the  board  of  examiners,  which  was  always  a 
council  of  elders,  more  readily  found  and  more  willingly  accepted. 
It  was  called  "the  order  of  the  church,"  particularly  in  dress. 
I  have  it  from  the  lips  of  an  elder  of  no  mean  repute,  who  served 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  475 

on  the  standing  committee,  and  other  important  committees 
appointed  by  annual  meeting,  that  if  he  were  required  to  give  the 
casting  vote  between  two  brethren  with  equal  qualification  as  to 
spirituality  and  moral  character,  the  one  a  man  of  learning  and  a 
preacher  of  eloquence,  but  who  did  not  conform  to  the  order  in 
wearing  his  hair  and  clothing,  and  another  who  did  conform  to 
the  order  but  could  not  preach,  he  would  unhesitatingly  accept 
the  latter. 

I  remember  one  occasion,  a  love-feast  in  Somerset  County, 
Pennsylvania,  where  fourteen  bishops  sat  behind  the  table,  and 
yet  they  pressed  a  second-degree  minister  who  could  not  possibly 
have  been  ordained,  to  do  the  preaching.  Similar  incidents, 
varying  only  in  number,  were  common  in  different  parts  of  the 
brotherhood. 

Such  men  as  those  just  described  composed  the  examining 
board  for  the  candidate  to  the  eldership  in  ninety-nine  cases  out 
of  one  hundred. 

From  this  description  the  reader  may  form  a  pretty  correct 
idea  of  the  chances  of  promotion  to  an  aspirant  with  short  hair 
or  store-bought  garments  and  a  worldly  education  with  a  godly 
life  and  holy  conversation.  From  this  grade  of  elders  the  stand- 
in^  committees  of  the  general  conference  were  elected,  for  none 
except  ordained  elders  were  eligible  to  the  standing  committees. 
From  their  ranks,  also,  were  selected  the  members  of  the  various 
committees  sent  to  the  churches  by  annual  meeting.  These,  with 
the  council  of  adjoining  elders,  constituted  the  consistory,  and 
held  the  fiat  of  the  Tunker  power,  from  which  there  was  no 
appeal. 

The  state  of  affairs  described  above  did  not  contribute  much  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  church,  either  numerically  or  spiritually. 
About  all  the  additions  came  from  the  posterity  of  the  member- 
ship. It  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  persons  filled  with  church 
patriotism  were  greatly  concerned  for  the  welfare  of  the  denom- 
ination. Neither  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  those  who  felt  that 
the  salvation  of  the  church  depended  on  the  maintenance  of  the 
•order"  or  peculiar  costume  and  habits  of  the  fathers,  should  be 
greatly  concerned  lest  the  "landmarks"  might  be  removed. 


476  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

The  controversies  were  not  confined  to  the  church  papers,  but 
they  were  carried  up  to  the  district  and  national  conferences, 
resulting  in  bitter  personalities,  envies,  and,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
hatred,  until,  sad  to  say,  Christian  affection  and  brotherly  love 
were  strangers  in  the  camp  of  Israel. 

While  we  are  not  to  measure  ourselves  by  ourselves,  yet  I 
doubt  whether  any  member  of  the  Tunker  fraternity  deprecates 
more  painfully  the  unkind  expressions  and  bitter  denunciations 
between  brethren  than  did  the  writer. 

It  was  the  intention,  and  much  had  been  written  on  that  line, 
to  present  a  number  of  excerpts  from  editorials,  communications, 
and  addresses,  illustrating  the  feeling  of  leading  men  during 
the  transitionary  state  of  the  fraternity,  when  men's  souls  were 
tried.  Upon  more  mature  thought  the  conclusion  was  reached 
that  the  reader  would  be  able  to  gather  enough  of  the  bitter  from 
the  various  statements  pertinent  to  the  historical  department,  and 
will  be  glad  to  throw  the  mantle  of  charity  upon  the  faults  of 
our  fathers.  I  must  say,  however,  that  if  a  prophet  had  foretold 
that  the  time  would  come  when  brethren  would  treat  each  other 
in  the  manner  in  which  we  were  compelled  to  witness  it,  we  would 
have  replied  in  the  language  of  Hazael,  "Is  thy  servant  a  dog 
that  he  should  do  this  great  thing?" 

The  first  occasion  which  brought  me  prominently  before  the 
general  conference  was  in  1867,  in  Carroll  County,  Maryland. 
The  subject  under  discussion  was  that  of  ordaining  deacons. 
The  question  had  come  up  through  the  middle  Pennsylvania 
district.  When  it  was  brought  before  the  conference  the  dele- 
gate explained  that  no  special  opposition  had  been  raised  against 
sending  it  to  the  annual  meeting,  and  that  Brother  H.  R.  Hol- 
singer  had  championed  it.  Thereupon  Elder  H.  D.  Davey, 
moderator,  called  on  me  to  open  the  discussion.  This  I  pro- 
ceeded to  do  deliberately,  by  stating  that  I  had  used  but  little 
argument  at  the  district  conference;  had  simply  stated  that  it 
appeared  that  the  duties  demanded  of  the  deacons  were  strikingly 
similar  to  those    required  of    the  "seven"  referred    to  in    Acts 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  477 

6:  1-8;  and  that  the  seven  had  been  set  apart  to  their  work  by 
laying  on  of  hands,  and  therefore  I  was  favorable  to  installing  our 
deacons  and  ministers  in  the  same  manner. 

Immediately  thereafter  an  old  brother  (if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
it  was  Abraham  Flory,  of  Miami  Valley)  arose,  and  remarked 
that  he  was  astonished  that  young  brethren  should  advocate  such 
ideas,  since  old  Brother  George  Hoke,  who  is  now  dead,  had  so 
thoroughly  explained  the  subject,  and  continued  in  the  same 
irrelevant  manner  until  the  audience  was  thoroughly  aroused. 
This  had  an  exciting  tendency,  and  quickly  rising,  I  said  that  I 
could  not  understand  why  the  old  brethren  did  not  kindly  meet 
the  arguments  by  Scripture  quotations,  or,  in  the  absence  of 
Scripture,  produce  the  arguments  which  Brother  Hoke  had 
advanced,  instead  of  giving  shame  for  attempting  to  defend  the 
plain  reading  of  the  Word  of  God. 

Then  my  father,  Elder  Daniel  M.  Holsinger,  arose  and 
appealed  to  me  to  be  careful  or  I  would  ruin  my  business.  This 
remark  greatly  agitated  me.  I  sprang  to  my  feet,  and,  raising  my 
hands  aloft,  exclaimed,  "Thank  God,  I  am  not  bound  to  truckle 
to  the  prejudice  of  any  man  or  set  of  men,  for  the  sake  of  my 
business,  as  long  as  I  have  the  use  of  these  two  hands  wherewith 
to  labor  for  the  support  of  myself  and  family." 

By  this  time  the  audience  was  excited  to  the  highest  pitch. 
I  never  before  or  since  witnessed  such  intensity  of  feeling  in  an 
assemblage.  The  council  was  held  in  a  dense  grove,  and  men 
and  women  wept  aloud,  and  several  voices  shrieked  so  as  to 
waken  the  echo.  A  committee  was  appointed  (I  can  not  say 
how),  who  waited  on  me,  and  endeavored  to  persuade  me  to 
apologize,  to  which  I  finally  consented,  and  attempted  to  do  at 
the  close  of  the  day,  but  friends  declared  that  the  apology  was 
more  aggravating  than  the  original  offense.  It  was,  however, 
accepted,  and  so  the  matter  was  permitted  to  rest,  and  the 
answer  given  to  the  query  was :  "Inasmuch  as  it  does  not  appear 
plainly  to  all  the  brethren  that  it  was  always  the  practice  of  the 
apostles  to  lay  hands  on  those  appointed  to  any  special  duty,  we 


47§  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

therefore  think  it  best  to  make  no  change  at  present  in  the  order 
of  installing  speakers  and  deacons  in  their  offices." 

My  experience  is  elsewhere  described  in  the  account  of  an 
effort  to  force  a  reporter  upon  the  annual  meeting,  in  Virginia,  in 
the  year  1869,  which  will  not  here  be  repeated.  For  the  faults 
charged  to  me  I  was  called  up  at  next  conference,  which  con- 
vened at  Waterloo,  Iowa,  and  the  matter  was  satisfactorily 
arranged. 

And  so  the  warfare  was  continued  from  year  to  year,  until 
1873,  when  the  burden  appeared  to  have  become  too  heavy  to 
bear  up  under  the  load.  Hence,  I  determined  to  unload  the 
greater  portion  of  it ;  and  right  here  it  becomes  me  to  state  plainly 
and  positively  a  fact  which  has  not  been  generally  known  among 
our  people.  Reference  is  here  made  to  the  disposing  of  the  office 
of  the  Christian  Family  Companion  to  Elder  Quinter.  It  has  been 
intimated  and  believed  by  many  that  the  change  was  forced  upon 
me,  which  is  a  mistake.  I  voluntarily  sought  an  interview  with 
Brother  Quinter,  and  proposed  to  sell  to  him.  It  was  unexpected, 
he  having  had  no  idea  that  I  would  part  with  the  paper  at  any 
price ;  and  while  he  acknowledged  that  the  terms  offered  were 
most  reasonable,  he  still  requested  time  for  consideration,  as  it 
was  a  turn  in  church  affairs  for  which  he  was  not  prepared. 
Time  was  willingly  granted,  for  apparently  I  was  more  anxious 
to  sell  than  he  was  to  buy.  Shortly  upon  the  return  to  his  home 
his  acceptance  of  the  proposition  was  received,  and  the  bargain 
closed. 

The  reasons  for  disposing  of  the  business,  as  given  to  my 
successor,  may  be  stated  as  follows : — 

I  was  tired  of  the  constant  friction  between  the  church  coun- 
cils and  dignitaries  and  myself.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  1873, 
for  instance,  not  less  than  two  full  days  were  devoted  to  the 
opposition  of  measures  and  methods  inaugurated  and  advocated 
by  myself.  To  show  the  state  of  my  mind  at  the  time  and  under 
influences  referred  to,  I  will  give  an  instance: — 

At  the  close  of  the  conference  I  met  a  brother  on  the  deserted 
ground,  who  spoke  in  the  following  language,  "Do  you  know  that 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  479 

the  standing  committee  is  holding  a  session,  and  is  going  to 
expel  you  from  the  church  ?"  I  replied  :  "No,  certainly  not.  The 
standing  committee  has  adjourned."  But  he  persisted  and 
remarked,  "You  had  better  keep  on  the  lookout."  Soon  after- 
wards another  brother  was  met,  who  made  the  same  remark. 
Now  I  began  to  feel  a  little  uneasy;  although  knowing  that  no 
such  action  could  then  be  taken,  yet  it  indicated  that  something 
was  brewing,  especially  after  the  stormy  time  encountered  dur- 
ing the  conference.  Very  shortly  after  the  second  brother  had 
spoken  to  me  I  was  told  by  another  that  I  was  wanted  in  the 
standing  committee's  room,  at  the  house  of  Elder  Lint.  By  this 
time  I  began  to  realize  that  something  was  going  to  be  done,  and 
with  many  misgivings  stepped  into  the  committee's  room,  but 
found  only  the  moderator  present  with  the  members  of  a  com- 
mittee of  elders,  which  had  met  the  local  church  some  time 
before,  and  had  left  without  finishing  the  business  entrusted  to 
them.  I  was  involved  in  the  business  of  the  committee,  and  to 
meet  my  part  of  it  had  been  invited  before  them,  and  Elder  Davy 
had  been  requested  to  remain  and  present  the  matter  to  me,  inas- 
much as  I  was  considered  a  pretty  hard  case  to  manage.  The 
matter  was  amicably  disposed  of,  and  I  was  sent  out  a  free  man, 
but  the  experience  of  the  morning  left  an  impression  on  my 
mind  and  heart  which  caused  me  to  sacrifice  the  best  business  of 
my  life,  and  which  had  cost  years  of  toil  and  worry  to  establish. 
I  hope  this  will  put  at  rest  forever  the  vain  imagination  and 
theories  of  friends  and  foes  as  to  the  cause  of  my  remarkable 
and  unexpected  change  of  programme  and  unreasonable  surrender 
of  position  and  power. 

Elder  Ouinter  was  purposely  selected  as  my  successor,  for  the 
reason  that  he  was  capable  and  conscientious.  In  our  conver- 
sation preceding  the  purchase  my  reasons  were  candidly  stated 
for  making  this  sacrifice.  He  expressed  himself  as  being  able 
to  realize  my  situation,  and  while  the  reasons  did  not  appear  to 
him  as  being  sufficient  for  such  a  change,  yet  he  could  readily 
grant  that  they  were  to  me  of  much  more  importance. 

The  church  was  now  practically  without  a  free  rostrum  or  a 


480  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

progressive  organ,  although  Elder  Quinter  had  agreed  not  to 
change  the  policy  of  the  paper.  And  from  his  point  of  view  he 
kept  his  agreement  It  is  one  thing  to  oppose  a  measure  and 
quite  another  thing  to  advocate  or  promulgate  a  cause.  Brother 
Quinter  kept  open  the  columns  of  the  paper  for  the  free  discus- 
sion of  all  matters  pertaining  to  church  work,  but  he  himself 
took  no  advance  steps  in  the  editorial  department.  It  might  be 
said  that  the  place  he  occupied  on  the  paper  was  to  the  church 
a  kind  of  moderatorship  or  as  governor  to  a  steam  engine,  to  pre- 
vent the  velocity  of  the  machinery  to  run  at  too  high  a  speed. 

The  only  article  I  wrote  for  the  paper  that  created  any  especial 
interest  during  Quinter 's  administration  appeared  in  the  Com- 
panion, Vol.  10,  page  502,  and  was  entitled  "A  Serious  Depart- 
ure," of  which  we  make  the  following  extract : — 

"Our  correspondence  from  Philadelphia,  in  January  last,  called 
forth  some  just  criticism,  and  which  has  been  an  incentive  to 
the  present  article.  The  kind  reproof  of  the  sister  who  wrote 
upon  the  subject  ('The  Spreading  of  the  Gospel')  was  very  timely. 

"Our  ministers  are  much  to  be  blamed  for  the  feeling  and  senti- 
ment of  the  church  upon  the  duty  of  contributing  to  the  support 
of  those  who  minister  in  the  word.  They  have  been  preaching 
so  long  and  so  much  against  'hirelings/  a  'paid  ministry,'  'money 
beggars,'  'extravagance,'  etc.,  that  a  kind  of  fear,  or  conscien- 
tious scruple,  takes  hold  of  our  congregations  whenever  a  collec- 
tion is  talked  about.  Indeed,  I  know  of  no  other  duty  in  which 
the  brethren  are  so  remiss  as  in  that  of  giving,  and  those  other 
duties  that  suffer  per  consequence.  The  cause  of  Christ  is  made 
to  languish  from  very  want  of  means,  while  the  membership  is 
being  enriched  in  worldly  effects  by  the  thousands.  Perhaps 
this  may  answer  for  Christianity,  but  I  have  not  so  learned  Christ. 

"Brethren,  I  have  wondered  much  how  the  opinion  originated, 
and  the  prejudice  became  so  strong  and  so  common  among  us, 
against  supporting  our  ministers.  It  can  not  have  been  so  at  the 
organization  of  the  church.  Their  sentiments  and  principles 
were  based  upon  the  Word,  the  plainly-revealed  Word  of  the 
Lord,  and  certainly  no  such  dogma  can  be  sustained  by  Scripture. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  48 1 

Indeed,  what  astonishes  me  most  at  finding  this  sentiment  among 
us,  is  the  fact  that  there  is  no  intimation  in  the  Scripture  against 
the  membership  giving  to  the  minister,  or  the  minister  receiving 
from  the  people.  Why,  brethren,  I  would  as  soon  undertake  to 
reason  away  the  anointing,  feet-washing,  the  salutation,  with 
other  institutions  held  sacred  among  us,  as  to  deny  the  duty  of 
the  church  to  support  her  ministry. 

"I  mean,  now,  not  simply  to  keep  them  from  starving,  when 
they  have  become  old,  and  feeble,  and  blind,  but  I  mean  a 
living,  healthful,  working  support,  that  will  enable  them  to 
give  as  much  of  their  time  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word  as 
God  and  the  church  may  demand,  including  time  and  facil- 
ities for  reading  and  studying,  in  order  to  show  themselves 
approved  unto  God,  and  enable  them  rightly  to  divide  the  Word 
of  truth.  This  would  be  the  reasonable  conclusion,  if  there  were 
no  revelation  upon  the  subject.  But  God  has  not  left  us  without 
His  testimony.  Our  Saviour  says,  'The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his 
hire.'  And  He  says  it  to  them  and  of  His  ministers.  The  apos- 
tle Paul  reiterates  this  sentiment  in  the  most  emphatic  language. 
And  he  wanted  it  understood  that  it  was  not  only  his  opinion  as 
a  man,  but  that  it  was  a  doctrine  founded  upon  the  law.  He 
urges  that  the  passage,  'Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  mouth  of  the 
ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn,'  was  not  written  only  for  the  sake  of 
the  oxen,  but  'altogether'  for  the  sake  of  His  ministers.  But  he 
makes  a  still  stronger  point  when  he  says,  'If  we  have  sown  unto 
you  spiritual  things,  is  it  a  great  thing  if  we  shall  reap  your  carnal 
things?'  This  alone  should  be  enough.  The  apostle  intimates 
that  the  carnal  things  are  scarcely  a  fit  recompense  for  the  sowing 
of  spiritual  things. 

"Then  he  reminds  them  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  priests 
and  those  who  ministered  at  the  altar,  under  the  old  dispensation. 
If  the  reader  will  refer  to  Num.  18:8-15  and  Deut.  18:  1-5,  he 
will  learn  what  the  priests  had  a  right  to  expect,  and  what  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  people  to  give.  It  was  not  a  mere  pittance.  It 
was  the  best  part,  because  it  was  the  part  that  was  an  offering  unto 
the  Lord.     This  God  gave  unto  His  servants,  and  to  their  sons, 

31 


482  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

and  to  their  daughters,  by  a  statute  forever.  'What  of  it?'  do 
you  say  ?  There  is  this,  and  which  I  wish  every  sincere  brother 
and  sister  to  mark  well,  as  a  matter  that  is  related  to  the  salvation 
of  the  soul.     The  enlightened  and  inspired  apostle  Paul  says : — 

'  'Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained  that  they  which  preach  the 
gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel.' 

"What  could  be  plainer  than  this?  As  those  who  ministered 
about  the  temple  lived  of  the  things  of  the  temple,  and  as  those 
who  waited  at  the  altar  were  partakers  with  the  altar,  even  so 
those  who  preach  the  gospel  shall  live  of  the  gospel.  Brethren,  I 
have  been  tongue-tied  and  pen-tied  long  enough  !  I  can  contain 
no  longer!  Here  is  a  plain  injunction  of  Holy  Writ  which  we 
ignore!  Heaven  forgive  us!  I  have  been  persuaded  of  this 
remission  long  ago,  but  the  devil  deterred  me  from  making  the 
declaration  by  words  which  he  said  he  would  put  into  the  mouths 
of  my  brethren,  viz.,  'Yes,  he  wants  to  be  paid !'  But  I  have  now 
obtained  power,  by  the  grace  of  God,  in  reading  and  meditating 
upon  the  following  verse  of  Scripture:  'But  I  have  used  none  of 
these  things ;  neither  have  I  written  these  things  that  it  should 
be  so  done  with  me,  for  it  were  better  for  me  to  die,  than  that 
any  man  should  make  my  glorying  void.' 

"In  this  case  I  think  I  feel  like  Paul,  T  would  rather  die  than 
to  have  it  truthfully  said  that  I  preached  to  make  money.  And 
as  the  truth  of  Christ  is  in  me,  no  man  shall  stop  me  of  this 
boasting.  2  Cor.  11  :io.  I  know  there  are  those  among  us  who 
desire  occasion,  just  as  there  were  in  the  days  of  the  apostle 
(twelfth  verse),  but  I  want  to  cut  it  off  from  them.  I  am  deter- 
mined, by  the  grace  of  God,  that  I  will  be  chargeable  to  no  man, 
or  set  of  men.  I  desire  nothing  and  refuse  nothing;  give  and 
take. 

"But  although  I  do  so,  in  order  that,  like  Paul,  I  may  boast 
a  little,  nevertheless  the  Lord  has  ordained  that  those  who  preach 
the  gospel  shall  live  by  the  gospel.  That  is  the  scriptural  rule, 
and  those  who  abide  by  it  are  more  to  be  admired  in  that  par- 
ticular than  those  who  do  not,  Paul  and  myself  not  excepted. 

"Now,  brethren,  I   want  no  controversy  upon  the  subject  of 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  483 

supporting  the  ministry.  Neither  do  I  fear  any.  The  subject 
is  too  plain.  It  is  incontrovertible.  God  has  decreed  it,  and  the 
Scriptures  have  revealed  it,  that  God's  ministers  shall  live  by  their 
ministry.  Of  course  there  are  those  who  will  abuse  their  privi- 
leges. Of  this  the  same  apostle  informs  us.  He  calls  them 
'false  apostles,  deceitful  workers,  transforming  themselves  into 
the  apostles  of  Christ.'     But  those  we  meet  in  every  place. 

"Henceforth  I  shall  call  for  reform  in  this  matter.  As  I  said 
before,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  how  such  a  sentiment  obtained 
among  us,  which  is  so  evidently  unscriptural.  And  still  more 
astonishing  that  our  ministers,  who  profess  to  have  nothing  to 
preach  but  the  Word  (and,  indeed,  they  have  no  authority  to 
preach  anything  else),  should  proclaim  that  God's  ministers  must 
live  by  the  labor  of  their  own  hands,  when  the  Scripture  declares 
that  they  shall  live  of  the  gospel.  Yes,  and  some  of  our  minis- 
ters have  had  this  erroneous  notion  so  thoroughly  implanted  into 
them  as  to  bind  their  conscience,  and  make  them  afraid  to  accept 
the  offerings  which  God  had  made  His  servants  willing  to  give 
them. 

"Brethren,  whence  comes  this  conscientiousness? — Verily  not 
from  the  teaching  of  God's  Word.  Let  us  return  speedily  to  the 
old  order,  the  Bible  order.  This  was  a  departure  unwarranted 
by  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  the  sooner  we  amend,  the  better  will 
it  be  for  ourselves,  and  for  the  cause  for  the  prosperity  of  which 
we  are  laboring." 

This  article  had  a  salutary  effect  upon  the  brotherhood  at  large. 
It  did  not  arouse  the  opposition  that  had  been  expected,  but  it 
did  have  an  astonishing  number  of  reciprocal  responses,  and  did 
much  good  to  ministers  and  laity. 

In  the  meantime  another  weekly  paper  had  been  started,  pub- 
lished by  H.  B.  and  J.  B.  Brumbaugh,  at  Huntingdon,  Pennsyl- 
vania. It  was  called  The  Pilgrim.  Both  editors  were  pro- 
gressive in  their  views,  but  conducted  their  paper  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  policy,  not  so  much  for  the  sake  of  making  money  as  to 
avoid  friction.     It  required  more  than  ordinary  courage  to  dis- 


484  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

cuss  religious  subjects  with  the  dignitaries  of  the  church,  some 
of  whom  were  more  dignified  than  responsive. 

Several  other  papers  were  introduced  about  the  same  time,  for 
whose  history  see  "Literature."  Each  one  had  its  special  theories 
to  advocate,  or  rather  to  oppose,  as  Tunker  literature  is  almost 
exclusively  conducted  in  the  negative.  By  reading  the  minutes 
of  annual  meetings  it  will  De  observed  that  many  of  the  queries 
start   in   with,  "Is  it  wrong?"  etc. 

In  the  fall  of  1878,  Elder  Joseph  W.  Beer  and  myself  com- 
menced the  publication  of  the  Progresskr  Christian,  at  Berlin, 
Pennsylvania,  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  advocating  progressive 
measures  and  reforms.  The  publication  did  not  meet  with  the 
patronage  which  was  expected,  partly  for  the  reason  that  there 
were  then  six  papers  in  the  field.  The  paper  was  continued  for 
about  six  months,  when  we  became  somewhat  discouraged,  and 
began  to  cast  about  for  the  cause  of  the  failure.  The  annual 
meeting  of  1879  had  given  the  Progressive  Christian  a  denuncia- 
tion, of  which  the  following  is  an  account : — 

Petitions  had  been  sent  up  from  northwestern  Ohio,  middle 
Pennsylvania,  southern  Ohio,  first  district  of  Virginia,  and  east 
Pennsylvania,  demanding  that  "H.  R.  Holsinger  shall  make  hum- 
ble acknowledgments  for  past  mistakes,  and  faithful  promises 
for  the  future,"  and  some  demanding  the  peremptory  suppression 
of  the  paper  and  severe  censure  of  the  publishers. 

I  can  only  give  a  few  samples  of  the  expressions  used  in  the 
papers  presented  before  the  conference : — 

"Whereas,  Brother  H.  R.  Holsinger,  and  certain  contributors 
to  the  paper  he  is  publishing,  have  committed  great  offense  to 
many  brethren,  publishing  slanderous  articles  against  the  general 
order  of  the  brethren, — for  instance,  in  No.  11  of  the  Progressive 
Christian,  in  replying  to  D.  P.  Sayler  on  non-conformity  to  the 
world  in  dress,  calling  it  'Idolatrous  Clothes  Religion  ;'  there- 
fore, we  ask  annual  meeting  to  stop  such  publications,  as  said 
publishers  are  sowing  discord  among  their  brethren,  after  the 
spirit  of  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram." 

"Will  not  the  annual  meeting  suppress  the  superfluous  number 


BRETHREN      CHURCH HISTORICAL.  485 

of  periodicals  now  being  published  in  the  brotherhood,  and  sup- 
press the  antiscriptural,  from  time  to  time." 

"Whereas,  Some  of  our  periodicals  make  expressions  unbe- 
coming in  reference  to  the  government  of  the  church  and  the 
transactions  of  annual  meeting  denouncing  the  system  of 
sending  delegates  to  annual  meeting,  or  committees  from  the 
annual  conference  to  settle  difficulties  in  the  churches,  of  which 
the  paper  called  The  Deacon  has  been  guilty — and  it  is  held  by 
some  brethren  that  the  Progressive  Christian  is  still  worse — shall 
annual  meeting  suffer  their  conduct  to  continue,  and  thus  open 
the  door  of  mischief?"  Answer,  "No;  and  we  call  on  annual 
meeting  to  bring  them  to  order." 

After  discussing  the  subject  pro  and  con,  for  several  hours, 
the  following  answer  was  offered  by  the  standing  committee: — 

"Whereas,  Petitions  were  received  from  several  districts,  re- 
questing the  annual  meeting  to  prohibit  slanderous  and  schismatic 
articles  from  being  published  in  the  Progressive  Christian  and 
Deacon;  therefore,  it  is  required  that  the  editors  of  the  Pro- 
gressive Christian,  and  particularly  H.  R.  Holsinger,  make  an 
humble  acknowledgment  to  the  annual  meeting  for  publishing 
erroneous  statements  in  regard  to  the  church's  principles,  charg- 
ing the  church  with  idolatry,  and  stigmatizing  some  of  its  mem- 
bers with  terms  of  reproach,  ridiculing  some  of  the  practices  in 
the  church,  and  publishing  inflammatory  articles,  some  even  from 
expelled  members.  2.  That  the  editors  of  the  Vindicator  and  of 
the  Deacon  make  satisfactory  acknowledgment  for  writing  and 
publishing  similar  articles  as  the  Progressive  Christian.  3.  That 
Elders  John  Harshey,  James  Ridenour,  and  Howard  Miller  be 
required  to  render  satisfaction  to  the  annual  meeting  for  writing 
schismatic  articles.  4.  That  the  editors  of  all  the  periodicals  be 
required  hereafter  not  to  admit  into  their  papers  any  article  that 
will  assail  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  in  regard  to  non- 
conformity to  the  world,  the  personal  character  of  ministers,  or 
the  peculiar  tenets  or  practices  of  the  church.  In  order  that  this 
decision  may  be  fully  carried  out,  which  we  are  anxious  to  have 
done,  we  appoint  a  committee  to  carry  them  out." 


486  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Several  restrictions  were  also  offered  to  the  Vindicator  and  the 
Deacon,  as  well  as  to  a  number  of  individual  contributors,  but 
the  main  object  was  the  restraint  of  the  Progressive  Christian. 

In  my  defense  before  conference,  I  disclaimed  any  intended 
disparagement  of  the  adopted  practices  and  customs  of  the 
church,  also  declaring  that  what  was  said  in  regard  to  D.  P.  Say- 
ler  could  not  properly  be  applied  to  the  church  as  a  people,  and 
further  continued,  "We  are  losing  the  proverbiality  for  integrity 
that  the  church  once  possessed,  when  a  Tunker's  word  was  as 
good  as  his  note." 

I  claimed  that  by  continually  advocating  externals  to  the 
neglect  of  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law  of  God,  the  present 
state  of  affairs  was  produced ;  that  the  preachers  are  to  be  blamed 
for  it.  They  do  not  advocate  with  sufficient  force  and  emphasis 
and  frequency  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Bible.  I  also  opposed 
all  sinful  extremes  in  dress,  and  assumed  that  there  is  a  happy 
medium,  which  was  the  position  occupied  by  the  progressive  por- 
tion of  the  church,  and  that  the  principles  of  our  holy  religion 
require  meekness,  cleanliness,  plainness,  and  modesty,  and  that 
any  garment  which  comes  within  these  restrictions  is  sustained 
by  the  gospel,  and  is  acceptable  to  God,  and  may  not  be  rejected. 
The  ancient  customs  of  the  church  should  be  respected,  but  ought 
not  to  be  compared  to  the  teachings  of  God's  Word. 

Meanwhile  other  influences  were  at  work  producing  favorable 
results.  A  few  years  after  Elder  Ouinter  purchased  the  Christian 
Family  Companion,  he  consolidated  with  the  Pilgrim,  taking  into 
partnership  Henry  B.  and  John  B.  Brumbaugh.  These  brethren 
were  as  progressive  as  Holsinger,  and  so  declared  themselves. 
Each  paper  had  also  gathered  around  it  an  able  force  of  contribu- 
tors and  correspondents,  which  had  been  educated  and  trained  dur- 
ing the  past  decade.  The  several  efforts  in  the  line  of  school  work, 
although  not  a  success,  were  nevertheless  exerting  an  influence  in 
favor  of  progress  and  reform,  which  must  not  be  passed 
unnoticed.  Their  teachers  and  students  were  called  to  the  min- 
istry, and  occasionally  one  was  advanced  to  the  eldership,  all  of 
which  added  life  and  energy  to  the  controlling"  influences  of  the 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  487 

brotherhood.  This  was  especially  true  in  reference  to  the  addi- 
tion of  "young  blood"'  into  the  arteries  of  the  eldership.  These 
all  made  themselves  felt  in  the  state  and  general  conferences, 
and  especially  were  their  labors  manifest  when  these  young 
elders  took  places  on  the  standing  committee.  Other  auxiliaries 
were  found  in  the  Sunday-school  conventions  and  missionary 
societies,  all  of  which  were  being  recognized  by  annual  meeting. 
And  that  was  about  all  that  the  annual  meeting  was  ever  expected 
to  do, — to  permit,  suffer,  tolerate,  and  recognize  measures,  which 
had  been  introduced  by  individuals,  congregations,  or  district 
meetings. 

The  progress  made  in  mission  work  in  the  Tunker  fraternity 
is  phenomenal.  I  very  distinctly  remember  the  time  when  all 
classes  of  missionary  work  and  missionary  societies  were  openly 
denounced  by  ministers  of  the  denomination,  as  worldly  institu- 
tions. At  the  present  time  the  German  Baptists  alone  have  a 
mission  fund,  which  has  almost  reached  a  half  million  dollars,  and 
support  home  missions  in  the  cities  of  New  York,  Brooklyn, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Washington,  Chicago,  Los  Angeles,  and 
in  a  number  of  the  smaller  cities  and  towns  of  the  United  States. 
She  also  supports  foreign  missions  in  Denmark,  Sweden,  Nor- 
way, France,  Smyrna,  India,  and  is  contemplating  the  opening 
of  churches  at  other  places.  And  the  Brethren  Church,  which 
has  been  operating  as  a  separate  denomination  only  about  seven- 
teen years,  has  well-established  churches  in  Philadelphia,  Wash- 
ington, Hagerstown,  Altoona,  Johnstown,  Pittsburg,  Chicago, 
Waterloo,  and  numerous  towns  and  smaller  cities.  I  believe  I 
am  safe  in  stating  that  the  Tunker  fraternity,  since  the  time  of  the 
first  appearance  of  the  Gospel  Visitor,  has  increased  in  number 
and  influence  more  than  during  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
of  her  previous  existence.  And  she  is  just  in  her  infancy  in  all 
reform  movements. 

There  is  one  special  distinction  which  the  author  of  this  work 
claims,  namely,  an  untarnished  reputation  in  my  home  church  and 
community.  It  was  that  which  enabled  me  to  withstand  the 
attempt  of  enemies  to  assail  my  standing.     And  that  attempt  was 


488  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

the  most  bitter  part  of  my  experience  during  the  church  troubles. 
Nothing  was  more  painful  than  the  discovery  that  my  own 
brethren  were  attempting  in  a  clandestine  manner  to  injure  that 
standing  in  the  church,  through  private  letters.  Nothing  but  an 
invulnerable  reputation  could  withstand  such  an  attack,  but, 
thank  God,  although  they  were  published  broadcast  in  home 
papers,  I  came  out  of  the  furnace  without  so  much  as  a  smell  of 
fire  on  my  garments.  The  first  and  most  painful  experience  was 
occasioned  by  a  visiting  elder  from  West  Virginia,  by  the  name 
of  William  Buckelew. 

I  had  been  invited  to  attend  a  love-feast  in  the  Middle  Creek 
church,  an  adjoining  congregation.  The  year  before  the  occur- 
rence of  the  incident  to  which  reference  is  made,  I  had  performed 
a  considerable  amount  of  preaching  in  their  territory,  holding 
several  protracted  meetings,  and  at  the  council  meeting  on  Satur- 
day baptized  fourteen  persons,  and  on  Sunday  forenoon  and 
afternoon  eight  more,  making  twenty-two  during  the  same  visit, 
and  also  succeeded  in  settling  several  troublous  church  cases, 
which  had  greatly  endeared  me  to  the  substantial  members  of  the 
church. 

I  therefore  accepted  the  invitation  to  attend  the  communion 
with  much  pleasure,  taking  my  daughter  and  one  of  the  office 
helpers  with  me.  I  preached  in  the  forenoon,  and  took  some  part 
in  the  afternoon  services.  Toward  evening  I  was  invited  to  a 
council  room  upstairs,  where  I  met  Brother  Buckelew  and  several 
other  members  and  elders,  and  was  told  that  they  had  decided 
that  I  could  not  commune  that  evening.  I  inquired  who  had 
made  the  decision,  and  was  told  that  the  officials  had  held  a  coun- 
cil. I  then  remembered  having  observed  some  of  the  ministers 
with  Buckelew  in  a  fence  corner  of  the  church-yard,  but  attached 
little  importance  to  it.  The  suddenness  of  the  announcement 
and  the  outrageous  nature  of  the  assault  completely  unmanned 
me  for  the  time,  and,  like  a  sheep  before  the  slaughter,  I  was 
dumb  with  amazement.  Buckelew  said  in  answer  to  my  objec- 
tion to  the  course  of  procedure  and  its  illegality,  that  if  I  would 
commune  he  would  not,  to  which  several  others  assented.     Had  I 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  489 

not  taken  the  matter  so  seriously  to  heart,  but  simply  replied,  "All 
right,  brethren,  I  shall  use  my  privilege  and  you  may  use  yours, 
but  I  shall  conduct  the  services,  if  necessary,"  and  had  exposed 
the  trick  before  the  whole  congregation,  which  I  should  have 
done,  I  could  have  held  half  the  membership  of  the  church  to 
the  progressive  cause. 

The  direct  cause  of  this  assault  was  claimed  to  be  the  publica- 
tion of  an  article  in  the  Progressive  Christian,  Vol.  I,  No.  25, 
which  I  give  as  follows : — 

IS  THE   STANDING   COMMITTEE   A   SECRET  ORGANIZATION? 

"The  query  at  the  head  of  this  article  has  occurred  to  us  fre- 
quently, and  has  been  asked  us  as  often,  perhaps,  but  we  were 
made  to  feel  the  importance  of  the  question  more  than  ever  at 
our  late  annual  meeting.  For  some  reason,  which  we  do  not 
know  whether  we  ought  to  reveal  or  not,  we  were  invited  to  come 
before  the  standing  committee.  When  we  came  to  the  door 
there  was  the  door-keeper,  just  as  there  is  at  the  lodge.  As  he 
knew  we  had  been  sent  for,  and  being  accompanied  by  the  mes- 
senger, no  password  was  asked  for,  neither  would  it  have  been 
at  the  lodge,  under  the  same  circumstances.  So  we  walked  in, 
and  while  we  knew  we  were  among  brethren,  we  felt  then  as  if 
we  had  stepped  into  a  lodge  room.  We  can  not  help  it,  brethren, 
we  did  feel  it.  We  were  but  once  in  a  lodge  room  in  our  life,  and 
that  was  at  our  initiation.  We  had  been  deceived  into  it,  by  the 
statement  that  it  was  simply  a  society,  and  we  never  went  back. 
That  occasion  was  recalled  when  we  stepped  into  the  standing 
committee  room,  on  the  5th  inst.  We  presume,  of  course,  those 
who  are  members  of  that  committee,  or  those  who  often  come 
before  it,  may  feel  differently  ;  but  then  we  suppose  one  might 
also  become  accustomed  to  the  lodge,  so  that  there  would  be  less 
of  a  feeling  of  timidity  on  entering  it. 

"Now  we  do  not  wish  to  bring  an  accusation  against  the  stand- 
ing committee  of  this  year,  or  of  any  other  year ;  we  simply  want 
to  know  whether  there  is  really  any  occasion  for  so  much  secrecy, 
or  to  assimilate  our  standing  committee  room  to  a  secret  lodge. 


490  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

If  there  can  be  any  good  reason  assigned  for  it  which  would  not 
also  apply  to  societies  for  benevolent  purposes,  then  we  may  be 
consistent ;  but  if  the  reasons  for  holding  secret  sessions  of  the 
standing  committee  would  also  be  applicable  to  other  societies 
intended  for  good,  then  we  are  hardly  consistent  in  using  secrecy 
ourselves  and  condemning  it  in  others. 

" Perhaps  it  may  not  occur  to  every  one  in  what  particulars  the 
meetings  of  standing  committee  are  like  lodge  meetings,  hence 
we  will  present  a  few  of  the  most  prominent  similarities : — 

"i.  It  has  a  room  to  itself. 

"2.  It  has  a  door-keeper. 

"3.  It  holds  its  sessions  with  closed  doors. 

"4.  The  representatives  of  the  press  are  excluded. 

"5.  It  admits  into  its  sessions  only  those  of  a  certain  degree, 
the  third  degree  in  the  ministry.  In  this  particular  it  reminds 
one  of  Royal  Arch  Masonry. 

"6.  It  has  secrets  of  its  own,  which  its  members  dare  not  reveal, 
at  least  so  they  tell  us  when  we  ask  for  reasons  for  certain  of  its 
doings. 

"Now,  in  these  six  particulars  the  workings  of  our  standing 
committees  are  very  similar  to  those  of  secret  societies.  And  in 
view  of  this  fact,  and  other  facts  set  forth  in  the  above,  we  call 
upon  the  more  intelligent  brethren  who  have  been  on  the  stand- 
ing committee  to  answer  the  question  contained  in  the  head  of 
this  article." 

After  returning  home  from  the  annual  meeting  and  discussing 
the  works  of  conference,  Brother  Beer  suggested  that  perhaps 
the  paper  was  being  conducted  in  too  radical  a  spirit,  while 
I  thought  it  ought  to  be  made  radically  progressive,  inasmuch 
as  there  was  no  room  for  the  expression  of  our  views  in  any  of 
the  conservative  papers  ;  that  the  people  were  tired  of  policy,  and 
required  and  desired  more  principle  in  their  instructions,  both 
from  the  pulpit  and  through  the  press. 

This  was  the  first  occasion  when  we  two  men  disputed  on  a 
course  of  procedure  in  our  business  relations  of  more  than  ten 
years,  and  this  dispute  was  not  upon  the  merits  of  the  case,  but 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  491 

as  a  matter  of  business  policy.  After  talking  over  the  matter,  I 
proposed  to  sell  my  interest  in  the  paper  and  rent  the  office  to 
Beer,  that  he  might  test  his  policy  proposition.  The  transfer 
was  made  accordingly,  and  the  course  of  the  paper  was  changed 
in  accordance  with  the  views  of  its  new  management.  I  con- 
tinued to  contribute  to  the  paper  in  such  articles  as  were  deemed 
consistent. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  Brother  Beer  discovered  his  mis- 
take, and  when  subscriptions  were  being  solicited  for  the  follow- 
ing year,  found  himself  hopelessly  swamped,  and  discontinued 
its  publication.  It  had  been  a  verbal  contract  that  if  the  paper 
were  wrecked  by  the  change  of  policy,  I  was  to  have  the  ruins. 
The  paper  lay  dead  until  May,  1880,  when  it  was  resurrected  by 
Howard  Miller,  and  conducted  in  the  name  of  Holsinger  and 
Miller.  Miller  remained  on  the  editorial  staff  only  about 
two  months,  when  I  became  editor,  publisher,  and  proprietor. 
No  other  changes  occurred  in  the  management  of  the  paper  until 
after  the  committee  had  recommended  the  expulsion  of  its  editor. 

In  the  meantime  I  had  been  ordained  to  the  office  of  bishop. 
About  the  same  time  the  old  Brothers'  Valley  church  was  sub- 
divided into  four  separate  congregations.  They  were  called 
Berlin,  Stony  Creek,  Brothers'  Valley,  and  Somerset  churches. 
I  was  unanimously  chosen  elder  of  Berlin  and  Stony  Creek,  and 
by  a  large  majority  of  the  Somerset  church.  This  elevation  to 
position  in  the  church  created  alarm  in  the  ranks  of  the  Tunker 
episcopacy,  for,  said  they,  "Now  he  is  a  bishop,  and  eligible  to 
the  standing  committee,  and  if  he  should  ever  get  on  that  com- 
mittee, there  would  be  no  end  of  trouble."  Accordingly,  the 
elders  set  to  work  to  avert  this  danger  by  writing  personal  letters 
to  the  leading  men  in  their  several  localities,  where  it  was  thought 
it  was  mostly  required.  I  will  give  one  letter  as  a  sample.  It 
came  into  my  hands  in  a  legitimate  manner.  Both  the  writer  and 
the  recipient  of  the  letter  are  long  since  dead,  as  are  also  most  of 
the  brethren  referred  to  in  the  communication.  As  I  dictate 
this  historv  I  am  made  to  wonder  whether,  if  they  were  yet  living, 


492  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

after  having  seen  and  heard  and  felt  what  we  have  experienced, 
they  would  pursue  the  same  course  and  in  the  same  manner. 

By  way  of  introduction  to  the  letter,  I  want  to  say  that  Brother 
Jacob  Miller  was  a  warm  personal  friend  of  mine  and  a  school- 
mate of  my  father,  and  although  he  remained  in  fellowship  with 
the  conservative  party,  he  did  not  favor  the  harsh  measures  used 
to  enforce  the  discipline  of  the  church,  and  especially  was  not  in 
sympathy  with  the  method  of  accomplishing  their  purposes. 
This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  he  suffered  the  letter  to  fall 
into  my  hands  without  any  special  reservation.  It  is  also  proper 
to  say  that  the  two  Miller  brethren  were  not  kinsmen. 

LETTER  FROM  ELDER  MOSES  MILLER. 

"Mechanicsburg,  Pa.,  Dec.  10,  1881. 

"Elder  Jacob  Miller,  Greeting — Dear  Brother  in  Christ; 
Your  letter  came  to  hand  on  Wednesday.  I  am  very  glad  to 
hear  from  you,  but  sorry  to  learn  that  you  were  not  well.  So  it  is 
in  this  world,  we  have  our  afflictions,  troubles,  and  sorrows  to 
pass  through.  But  if  we  love  God  they  will  all  work  for  our 
good.  ...  I  expect  to  go  to  upper  Cumberland  this  after- 
noon. I  wish  to  visit  Brother  Daniel  Keller  and  others,  and 
may  stay  three  or  four  days  and  have  some  meetings.  We 
are  only  some  eighteen  miles  apart,  but  do  not  get  together  often. 

"Well,  Brother  Jacob,  I  had  for  several  weeks  past  thought  to 
write  to  you  and  Brother  John  W.  Brumbaugh,  and  D.  M.  Hol- 
sing-er  also,  about  our  church  troubles.  As  far  as  I  know,  in  our 
valley  there  is  not  much  trouble  until  we  get  to  Antietam  and 
Falling  Springs.  There  the  division  is  made,  and  it  is  a  bad 
work,  and  I  think  there  was  no  need  for  it.  If  the  brethren  had 
called  the  proper  help,  and  worked  together  according  to  the 
gospel  and  usages  of  the  brethren,  those  churches  I  do  think 
could  have  been  saved.  I  fear  it  is  now  too  late.  Of  course 
Beaver  Dam,  in  Maryland,  is  divided.  And,  my  dear  brother, 
you  must  not  believe  every  spirit.  Those  Miami  brethren 
(seceders)  even  in  their  Vindicator  say  things  about  annual 
meeting  and  otherwise  that  are  not  at  all  true.     They  have  much 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  493 

to  say  about  old  order,  and  are  down  on  having  more  than  one 
order  in  washing  feet.  Now  I  have  it  from  Maryland  that  when 
they  were  in  from  Ohio  (Cassel,  Seiler,  Flory,  and  others),  and 
effected  a  union  with  the  cut-off  party  at  Beaver  Dam,  the  Ohio 
men  were  strong  for  not  having  the  supper  on  the  table  at  time 
of  washing  feet.  So  Beaver  Dam  yielded  to  have  it  off,  also, 
but  insisted  on  having  lamb  or  mutton  for  supper.  So  they 
agreed  when  the  Miami  folks  came  to  them  they  must  eat  mut- 
ton. But  when  Beaver  Dam  goes  to  Miami  they  must  eat  beef. 
Well,  it  looks  nice,  but  they  have  two  orders  already,  and  I  see 
more  difference  in  these  two  orders  than  in  some  things  they  con- 
demn annual  meeting  for.  But  which  of  the  two  modes  they  call 
old  order  I  don't  know.  I  am  much  in  favor  of  the  old  order, 
but  it  should  be  the  order  of  the  gospel,  and  that  I  think  will 
stand. 

"As  for  Daniel  Mentzer's  letter,  I  do  not  credit  all  he  says.  I 
had  a  number  of  papers  sent  me,  and  they  are  sometimes  too  one- 
sided. For  instance,  in  one  they  said  that  the  Miami  elders  had 
investigated  why  they  were  expelled,  and  when  they  heard  it  they 
gave  them  credit  that  they  had  done  as  they  did.  You  would 
always  wish  to  hear  both  sides  before  you  would  decide. 

"But  what  I  had  thought  to  write  to  you  and  others  is  this : 
I  fear  the  Huntingdon  and  some  others  are  rather  helping  to 
drive  off  some  to  the  Miami  faction.  You  know  a  few  years  ago 
annual  meeting  decided  that  brethren  should  not  have  Sunday- 
school  conventions.  Soon  after  that  Quinter  and  the  Brum- 
baugh s  had  a  program  published  about  Sunday-school  conven- 
tion. Last  annual  meeting  it  was  decided  that  the  brethren 
should  not  call  their  colleges  or  schools  the  Brethren's  School. 
As  soon  as  the  report  came  it  had  a  picture  on  the  cover  of  the 
school  building,  and  at  the  top,  'The  Brethren's  Normal.'  What 
does  my  Brother  Jacob  think  of  this?  The  very  brother  that 
wrote  and  printed  the  decision  of  annual  meeting,  to  violate  or 
transgress  it  first. 

"That  is  not  all.  In  August  attended  a  Sunday-school  con- 
vention and  giving  their  proceeding  in  the  paper,  calling  H.  R. 


494  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Holsinger  brother,  who,  I  hold,  is  legally  expelled;  and  mixing 
in  with  him  and  a  ring  of  dandy  members.  How  can  you  old 
brethren,  who  are  so  near  James  Quinter,  let  it  pass  ?  This  will 
drive  others  over  to  the  secessionists.  I  wish  you  would  see 
].  W.  B.  and  D.  M.  Holsinger,  and  others  if  you  can.  There 
must  be  something  done  in  this  matter  by  our  next  district  meet- 
ing. Let  us  not  be  like  the  watchmen  in  Isaiah  56,  'Dumb  dogs 
that  can  not  bark.'  We  must  do  something  to  save  the  middle 
or  main  body  of  the  church.  Miami  Valley  has  done  what  the 
south  did  twenty  years  ago, — seceded,  and  the  progressionists 
must  be  dealt  with.  But  we  must  do  our  duty,  so  we  do  not  help 
to  scatter  or  drive  away.  And  I  see  no  way  but  to  prefer  charges 
against  those  who  do  transgress  or  violate  the  decisions  of  annual 
meeting  and  the  gospel.  And  in  such  cases  as  I  referred  to,  to 
bring  strong  queries  with  good  answers  from  the  churches  at 
home  to  district  meeting,  and,  if  necessary,  to  annual  meeting. 
But  we  must  act  in  this  matter,  for  the  seceders  and  the  pro- 
gressionists are  busy  working,  and  in  my  humble  judgment  both 
sides  are.  wrong. 

"Read  or  give  this  to  Brother  John  Replogle,  and  then  to  the 
elders  at  Clover  Creek,  and  where  you  think  best.  I  am  not 
a  very  good  writer,  but  hope  you  can  read  and  understand.  My 
advice  to  the  churches  would  be  to  stand  firm  by  the  gospel  and 
the  established  order  of  the  church,  hoping  by  and  by  the  storm 
will  be  over.  I  would  not  invite  progressionists  to  preach  for  us, 
such  as  look  for  a  dollar  a  day  or  more,  and  their  way  paid,  or 
a  gathering  at  district  meeting  for  them.  I  think  my  dear 
brethren  will  understand  me.  Pardon  me  if  I  should  be  wrong. 
With  my  best  love  to  you  and  sister,  and  the  members  with  you, 
I  remain,  Your  well-wishing  brother, 

"Moses  Miller/' 

In  a  postscript  to  the  above  letter  Elder  Miller  adds  that  he 
had  written  so  many  letters  that  he  had  already  broken  on  the  fifth 
package  of  envelopes  since  January  I,  besides  a  number  of  postal 
cards. 

During  the  period  of   1880-81,  the  old-order  element   formu- 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  495 

lated  rapidly  toward  separate  organization,  having  had  the 
advantage  of  several  conferences,  through  which  they  had  gained 
influence  and  passed  laws  which  they  were  determined  to  enforce 
upon  the  progressive  part  of  the  brotherhood.  In  fact,  the  old- 
order  element  was  intolerant,  to  the  extreme  of  persecution, 
which  they  carried  out  as  far  as  possible  in  a  country  of  religious 
freedom.  It  was  interesting  to  observe  how  they  squirmed  after 
the  tables  were  turned  and  it  was  measured  to  them  as  they  had 
measured  to  others.  While  in  many  things  I  was  in  sympathy 
with  the  old-order  brethren  because  of  their  consistency,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  they  were  the  indirect  source  of  all  my  trouble  and 
persecutions.  They  furnished  the  ammunition,  while  the  con- 
servatives fired  the  guns,  not  intending  to  injure  anybody.  I 
grant  them  the  credit  of  having  been  sincere  in  their  motives,  but 
sadly  mistaken  as  to  the  matter  itself. 

It  is  astonishing  to  observe  what  changes  have  been  made 
since  I  came  into  the  arena  of  public  church  work,  and  still  more 
astonishing  to  contemplate  the  fact  that  nearly  every  effort  put 
forth  toward  progress  was  opposed  by  many  of  the  brethren  who 
are  now  its  friends,  and  a  few  of  whom  are  even  enjoying  the 
accruing  opportunities  and  advantages. 

The  trouble  was  finally  brought  to  a  focus  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  1881,  at  Ashland,  Ohio.  At  that  conference  no  less  than 
five  district  meetings  presented  strictures  against  the  Progressive 
Christian  or  its  editor.  They  originated  in  northern  Illinois, 
southern  Missouri,  southern  Ohio,  and  southern  Indiana,  all 
strong  old-order  territory.  I  quote  the  first  entire  to  confirm  the 
assertion  made  that  the  opposition  came  from  the  old-order 
brethren  : — 

"Inasmuch  as  Brother  H.  R.  Holsinger  has  been  admonished 
by  the  annual  meeting  again  and  again,  according  to  the  minutes 
of  annual  meeting,  to  cease  to  publish  articles  conflicting  with 
the  general  order  of  the  old  brethren  and  good  feeling  of  the 
church,  and  still  continues  to  do  the  same,  we  now  request  annual 
meeting  to  deal  with  him  according  to  Matthew  18,  and  the 
decisions  of  annual  meeting,  either  directly  or  by  a  committee, 


496  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

and  if  he  does  not  hear  the  church,  hold  him  as  a  heathen  man 
and  a  publican." 

The  second  stricture  came  from  northern  Illinois,  which  reads 
as  follows : — 

"Is  it  right  for  brethren  to  publish  papers  like  the  Progressive 
Christian  and  Vindicator,  creating  and  fostering  strife  by  publish- 
ing articles  against  the  established  order  of  the  church  ?  And  if 
not  right,  what  is  to  be  done  with  brethren  that  publish  such  a 
paper  or  papers?" 

"Answer — Not  right  for  brethren  to  publish  such  a  paper  or 
papers,  and  any  brother  or  brethren  that  publish  such  a  paper  or 
papers,  shall  make  an  humble  acknowledgment  for  so  doing, 
and  promise  not  to  publish  such  articles  any  more  in  the  future, 
said  acknowledgment  and  agreement  to  be  published  in  their 
paper  or  papers." 

In  this  query  the  Vindicator  is  included  as  a  stroke  of  policy. 

The  third  came  from  southern  Missouri,  another  old-order 
stronghold.  This  query  is  equally  strategic,  but  fraught  with 
less  policy.  I  quote  only  main  parts  of  the  queries  and  answers, 
as  follows : — 

"Is  district  meeting  favorable  to  calling  the  attention  of  annual 
meeting  to  the  character  of  the  Progressive  Christian,  and  require 
Brother  Holsinger,  its  editor,  to  cease  publishing  articles  of  criti- 
cism on  annual  meeting  and  its  decisions,  and  publishing  his  own 
articles  advocating  measures  calculated  to  subvert  the  principles 
and  rules  of  order  of  our  brotherhood,  in  matters  of  plainness  of 
dress,  etc.  ?" 

"Anszver — This  district  meeting  requests  annual  meeting  to 
decide  that  the  Progressive  Christian  and  all  like  papers,  purport- 
ing to  be  published  by  a  member  of  the  Brethren  Church,  do  not 
reflect  the  spirit  and  principles  of  the  church  of  Christ.  We  also 
look  with  sorrow  upon  the  tendency  to  levity  and  jesting  through 
the  papers,  and  beseech  writers  and  teachers  to  avoid  the  degrad- 
ing habit,  and  to  remember  I  Thess.  5:6,  8 ;  Eph.  5:4;  4 :  29 ; 
Titus  2:2,  12 ;  1  Peter  1:13:4:7,  and  5  :  8. 

"And  we  further  desire  that  annual  meeting  require  Brother 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  497 

H.  R.  Holsinger  to  make  confession  for  having  violated  the  law 
of  God  in  the  manner  in  which  he  had  conducted  his  paper." 

The  fourth  query  came  from  southern  Ohio,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"Whereas,  H.  R.  Holsinger  is  publishing  articles  in  his  paper 
which  have  a  tendency  to  bring  about  discord  among  the 
brethren,  and  have  a  bad  influence  outside  of  the  brotherhood,  we 
request,  therefore,  that  a  committee  be  appointed  whose  duty 
it  shall  be  to  take  notice  of  that  paper,  and  if  articles  still  con- 
tinue to  appear  contrary  to  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  church, 
that  it  shall  be  their  duty  to  bring  said  Holsinger  to  an  account 
as  in  their  judgment  they  may  deem  proper  and  right." 

"Answer  — This  meeting  asks  the  annual  meeting  to  grant  and 
appoint  the  committee  herein  asked  for,  that  it  may  carry  out 
the  decisions  of  1879,  Article  16." 

The  fifth  originated  in  northern  Illinois,  of  which  I  quote  the 
following : — 

"Whereas,  H.  R.  Holsinger,  editor  of  the  Progressive  Chris- 
tian, is  publishing  unchristian  and  often  untruthful  reflections 
upon  brethren,  and  also  publicly  charging  them  with  being 
untruthful ;  and, 

"Whereas,  The  tendency  of  such  publications  is  to  encourage 
disorder  and  misrule  among  the  churches,  affecting  the  peace 
and  prosperity  of  local  churches ;  and, 

"Whereas,  The  churches  of  the  south  Missouri  district  unite 
their  efforts  with  all  the  churches  of  our  general  brotherhood 
towards  preserving  the  long-established  order  of  church  fellow- 
ship ;  will,  therefore,  district  meeting  consider  whether  H.  R. 
Holsinger  can  be  recognized  as  a  brother,  conducting  the  Pro- 
gressive Christian,  and  to  declare  whether  he  can  assist  in  gen- 
eral church  work,  or  to  serve  on  the  standing  committee?" 

"Answer — We  view  with  fear  the  course  pursued  by  H.  R. 
Holsinger,  in  the  manner  of  conducting  his  paper  and  of  the 
principles  he  advocates,  and  we  are  unanimous  in  the  conviction 
that  it  should  be  declared  that  we  can  not  regard  him  as  a  brother, 
and  that  he  should  be  excluded  from  all  participation  in  general 

32 


498  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

church  work,  and  we  place  these  our  convictions  in  the  hands  of 
the  standing  committee,  to  act  in  the  premises  as  to  them  appears 
to  be  necessary." 

These  several  queries  and  answers  were  declared  to  be  the 
property  of  conference.  A  motion  was  made  by  Elder  Joseph 
Kauffman,  seconded  by  P.  J.  Brown,  that  the  meeting  appoint 
a  committee  to  take  charge  of  the  papers,  and  report  to  this 
meeting  again. 

R.  H.  Miller  then  remarked  that  although  he  was  a  member 
of  that  body  he  would  prefer  to  have  the  papers  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  standing  committee  if  the  brother  would  withdraw 
his  motion.  After  further  remarks  by  J.  P.  Ebersole  and  S.  Z. 
Sharp,  Brother  Miller  said,  "It  is  said  my  motion  was  seconded," 
to  which  S.  Z.  Sharp  responded :  "I  made  a  motion  to  amend, 
and  it  was  seconded.  My  amendment  is  that  instead  of  refer- 
ring it  to  the  standing  committee,  which  has  more  work  than  it 
can  do,  a  committee  be  appointed,  composed  of  delegates,  and 
thus  relieve  the  standing  committee  from  the  pressure  of  labor." 
By  that  time  R.  H.  Miller  had  lost  himself,  and  made  the  fol- 
lowing statement :  "When  there  is  one  motion  and  seconded 
before  the  house  it  is  not  in  order  to  make  another  motion.  I 
made  a  motion  and  that  brought  it  before  the  house.  Brother 
Sharp  made  another  motion,  and  that  motion  can  not  come  before 
the  house  without  I  accept  it." 

The  facts  are  that  Kauffman  and  Brown  had  introduced  the 
motion,  and  Miller  was  out  of  order  himself.  Other  irrelevant 
remarks  were  made  by  different  parties,  including  the  moderator, 
who  stated,  quoting  from  the  authorized  report,  that  if  the 
meeting  was  to  be  carried  on  strictly  in  accordance  with  parlia- 
mentary usages  it  would  be  under  the  absolute  necessity  of  elect- 
ing another  moderator.      He   plead    ignorance  of    such    rules. 

The  above  remark  by  the  moderator  suggested  the  following 
thoughts,  which  I  offered,  and  which  were  apparently  well 
received  by  the  audience  : — 

"Inasmuch  as  we  do  not  understand  a  great  deal  about  parlia- 
mentary rules,  I  would  suggest  that  we  decide  this  matter  upon 


JJKETHREx\     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  499 

the  principle  of  Christian  courtesy,  and  therefore,  that  this  stand- 
ing committee,  upon  the  principles  of  Christian  courtesy,  will 
appoint  a  committee  from  the  delegates  sent  here  by  the  various 
district  meetings,  to  take  these  papers  in  charge,  and  consolidate 
them  into  a  query  with  an  answer,  to  be  presented  to  this 
meeting." 

John  Wise  also  preferred  to  have  the  papers  placed  into  the 
hands  of  the  standing  committee,  as  he  believed  that  was  in 
accord  with  the  general  order  of  the  brotherhood.  After  some 
further  discussion  a  motion  prevailed  that  the  papers  be  sub- 
mitted to  a  committee  of  elders,  and  they  report  to  the  standing 
commtitee,  and  the  standing  committee  report  to  the  public 
council.  The  following  persons  were  appointed  on  the  com- 
mittee:  S.  S.  Mohler,  Abraham  Miller,  Daniel  Vaniman,  Joel 
Neff,  D.  E.  Price,  C.  Bucher,  George  W.  Cripe,  John  Brillhart, 
and  John  Smith. 

The  committee  laid  its  report  before  the  conference  at  the  after- 
noon session  of  the  third  day,  which  is  as  follows : — 

"We  the  undersigned  members  of  the  committee  appointed  to 
consider  charges  against  H.  R.  Holsinger  and  Samuel  Kinsey, 
find  that  H.  R.  Holsinger  is  publishing  a  paper  in  which  many 
articles  have  appeared  criticising  the  work  of  annual  meeting, 
and  against  the  order  of  our  government,  as  also  against  our 
order  of  observing  the  gospel  principle  of  non-conformity  to  the 
world  in  wearing  apparel,  after  having  been  again  and  again 
admonished  by  our  annual  meeting  to  be  more  guarded  in  his 
publications,  and  promised  to  do  so,  which  promise  he  has  not 
performed,  but  has  continued  his  former  course  with  increased 
effort.  We  therefore  recommend  that  this  meeting  appoint  a 
committee  to  wait  on  him  in  his  church,  and  deal  with  him 
according  to  his  transgressions. 

"S.  S.  Mohler,  Abraham  Miller,  Daniel  Vaniman,  Joel  Neff, 
D.  E.  Price,  C.  Bucher,  John  Smith,  John  Brillhart,  G.  W.  Cripe." 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  then  put  on  its  passage.  In 
the  discussion  I  made  the  following  remarks : — 

"I  notice  that  these  two  papers  end  so  differently,  I  would  like 


500  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

to  ask  the  reason  for  it.  In  my  case  you  say,  'Deal  with  him  ac- 
cording to  his  transgression/  and  in  Brother  Kinsey's,  'as  his  case 
may  demand.'  There  is  a  discrimination  here  that  looks  to  me 
not  exactly  fair.  You  see  Brother  Kinsey  confesses  he  is  trying 
to  maintain  the  old  order  and  gets  into  trouble,  and  I  am  trying 
to  maintain  the  gospel  order,  and  get  into  trouble." 

To  this  John  Wise  made  the  erroneous  reply :  "I  wish  to  call 
Brother  Henry's  attention  to  one  fact:  The  papers  were  in  the 
hands  of  two  different  committees." 

This  was  so  evidently  erroneous  that  I  could  only  remark, 
"Brother  Wise,  will  you  please  look  up  another  excuse,"  and  then 
proceeded  to  say :  "I  am  certain  that  I  do  not  have  a  fair  show- 
ing. There  are  some  stray  copies  of  my  paper  sent  all  over  the 
brotherhood.  Some  articles  are  marked,  calling  the  attention  to 
their  offensiveness  as  understood  by  the  sender,  while  the  reply 
to,  or  corrections  of,  said  article  never  reaches  the  same  party. 
The  objections  to  my  paper  generally  come  from  parties  who  are 
not  regular  readers,  but  only  see  an  occasional  copy  sent  to 
them  for  especial  purpose.  Hence,  my  strongest  opposition 
comes  from  those  who  know  the  least  about  the  Progressive 
Christian.  In  conclusion,  I  plead  for  at  least  one  man  on  my 
committee  who  was  a  regular  reader  of  my  paper,  through  whom 
I  might  expect  an  intelligent  representation  of  my  cause." 

It  was  all  to  no  effect,  however,  and  the  following  committee 
was  appointed,  and  which  is  known  in  Tunker  history  as  "The 
Berlin  Committee :"  John  Wise,  Enoch  Eby,  David  Long,  Joseph 
Kauffman,  and  Christian  Bucher. 

I  wish  here  to  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  several  incon- 
sistencies in  the  foregoing  proceedings : — 

First.  One  district  complains  that  I  had  charged  certain 
brethren  with  untruthfulness,  and  in  the  same  sentence  publicly 
charges  me  with  having  published  "unchristian  and  untruthful 
reflections." 

Second.  To  the  lack  of  proof  or  evidence  to  establish  the 
charges  made  against  me.  And  so  it  was  through  my  entire 
trial.     It  appears  that  the  case  was  conducted  on  the  presump- 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  501 

tion  that,  since  I  was  in  the  minority,  I  must  be  in  the  wrong,  and 
as  they  were  in  the  majority  and  had  the  power  over  me,  they  must 
be  right,  without  further  evidence.  I  do  not  know  what  testi- 
mony was  produced  before  the  committee  at  Ashland,  who  had 
the  complaint  and  formulated  the  charge  against  me,  and  I  am 
certain  nobody  else  can  tell.  It  is  evident  that  there  was  none 
brought  before  the  conference  by  its  absence.  Not  a  copy  of  my 
paper  was  brought  before  conference  nor  a  single  article  read 
before  annual  meeting  in  testimony  of  the  accusations  made 
against  me.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Berlin  committee  meeting, 
and  at  the  Arnold's  Grove  annual  meeting,  when  I  was  dis- 
owned. I  do  not  mention  these  matters  in  the  spirit  of  com- 
plaint, but  as  a  remarkable  fact  in  the  history  of  an  important 
case.  It  would  certainly  have  made  the  case  much  stronger 
against  me  if  the  damaging  articles  alluded  to  in  the  complaint 
had  been  read  before  the  council  from  my  paper.  That  they 
existed  is  presumed,  but  presumption  is  not  evidence,  and  if  they 
existed,  that  they  were  available  goes  without  saying. 

The  committee  visited  the  Berlin  church  on  the  9th  day  of 
August,  1881,  and,  after  a  sitting  of  two  days,  rendered  the 
following  verdict: — 

REPORT    OF    BERLIN    COMMITTEE. 

"We,  the  undersigned  committee,  appointed  by  annual  meet- 
ing to  go  to  Berlin  church,  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania,  'to 
wait  on  Elder  H.  R.  Holsinger,  and  deal  with  him  according  to  his 
transgressions,'  do  report  as  follows : — 

"Met  with  the  Berlin  church  on  Tuesday,  August  9,  1881,  and 
were  unanimously  accepted  by  the  church,  H.  R.  Holsinger 
included.  And  upon  the  question  to  H.  R.  Holsinger,  whether 
he  would  concede  to  and  accept  of  the  general  usages  of  the 
church  in  conducting  this  investigation,  H.  R.  Holsinger 
declined,  whereupon  a  lengthy  discussion  followed  upon  the 
following  departure  from  the  general  usages  of  the  church : — 

"1.  H.  R.  Holsinger  employed  a  stenographer  to  take  down 
and  publish  the  proceedings  of  the  council. 


502  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

"2.  The  council  to  be  held  in  the  presence  of  persons  not  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  which  discussion  closed  by  the  Berlin  church, 
saying  that  they  had  passed  a  resolution  in  absence  of  the  com- 
mittee, that  they  will  have  a  full  report  of  proceedings  taken, 
and  right  on  this  passed,  in  presence  of  the  committee,  the 
following : — 

''Resolved,  That  this  council  shall  be  held  openly  to  all  mem- 
bers, and  persons  not  members  of  the  Brethren  Church  will  be 
considered  present  by  courtesy  only,  and  none  but  the  members 
of  the  Berlin  church  and  the  committee  are  invited  to  participate 
in  the  business." 

Wednesday,  August  10,  met  at  9  A.  m.,  according  to  adjourn- 
ment. The  chairman  announced  to  the  meeting  that  the  com- 
mittee feared  the  members  did  not  understand  the  responsibili- 
ties they  assumed  yesterday,  and  proposed  a  reconsideration 
and  rescinding  of  their  decisions.  After  some  investigation  of 
the  propriety  of  reconsideration,  I  gave  liberty  for  any  one  to 
make  a  motion  to  that  effect,  but  no  motion  was  offered.  After 
due  time  the  committee  retired  and  decided  as  follows : — 

"In  view  of  the  above  considerations,  especially  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  Brother  H.  R.  Holsinger  refused  to  have  his  case 
investigated  by  the  committee  in  harmony  with  the  gospel  as 
interpreted  by  our  annual  meeting,  and  the  consent  of  our  gen- 
eral brotherhood,  and  inasmuch  as  Brother  H.  R.  Holsinger  and 
the  Berlin  church  assumed  all  responsibility  in  the  case,  there- 
fore we  decided  that  Brother  H.  R.  Holsinger  can  not  be  held 
in  fellowship  in  the  brotherhood,  and  all  who  depart  with  him 
shall  be  held  responsible  to  the  action  of  the  next  annual  meeting. 

"John  Wise,  Enoch  Eby,  C.  Bucher,  David  Long,  Joseph  N. 
Kauffman." 

Explanation  by  John  Wise. — "Met  with  the  Berlin  church,  on 
Tuesday,  August  9,  1881,  and  were  unanimously  accepted  by 
the  church,  H.  R.  Holsinger  included.  And  upon  the  question 
to  H.  R.  Holsinger  whether  he  would  concede  to  and  accept  the 
general  usages  of  the  church  in  conducting  this  investigation, 
H.  R.  Holsinger  declined;  whereupon  a  lengthy  discussion  fol- 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  503 

lowed.  It  may  be  a  question  in  the  minds  of  many,  Why 
propound  such  a  question?  I  answer,  What  gave  rise  to  this 
was  the  following:  Prior  to  our  going  to  Berlin  we  saw  in  the 
Progressive  Christian  the  announcement  that  Brother  H.  R. 
Holsinger  had  employed  a  stenographer,  and  that  he  proposed 
publishing  in  his  paper  a  full  report  of  the  proceedings  of  that 
committee.  We  regard  this  as  a  departure  from  our  established 
usage,  as  where  a  report  is  to  be  taken  under  such  circumstances, 
all  interested  parties  should  have  a  part  in  the  choice  of  the 
stenographer  if  it  be  agreed  that  one  shall  be  employed.  No 
member  of  that  committee  was  interrogated  in  regard  to  this 
matter,  and  we  regard  the  treatment  towards  us  as  unfair;  and 
not  only  unfair  in  a  business  point  of  view  and  a  departure  from 
general  usages,  but  contrary  to  the  principles  of  our  holy  Chris- 
tianity. We  considered  it  not  at  all  fraternal  or  brotherly  that 
Brother  Holsinger  should  have  the  matter  of  publication  under 
his  control.  We  are  not  misrepresenting  Brother  Holsinger,  as 
T  will  read  from  the  report,  and  as  you  will  find  in  a  pamphlet 
entitled  The  Stenographic  Report  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Committee  for  the  Trial  of  Elder  H.  R.  Holsinger,  for  Insub- 
ordination to  the  Traditions  of  the  Elders.'  In  the  progress  of 
the  consideration  of  the  propriety  of  this  departure  we  have  the 
following:  'You  have  employed  a  stenographer  to  take  a  full 
report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  committee,  to  be  published  in 
your  paper,  which  we  think  should  not  be  done,  as  it  is  a 
departure  from  the  usages  of  the  general  brotherhood.'  ' 

While  it  is  regarded  as  my  privilege  to  comment  upon  the 
method  pursued  by  the  committee  in  the  treatment  of  this  case, 
I  shall  be  confined  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  historical  part  of 
the  case.  The  full  report  of  the  proceedings  is  upon  record,  and 
can  be  found  in  any  first-class  library  in  the  fraternity,  to  which 
the  reader  who  wishes  more  information  than  is  herein  contained 
is  respectfully  referred.  There  were  present  from  a  distance  on 
the  occasion  the  following:  Elders  James  Ouinter,  I.  J.  Rosen- 
berger,  E.  K.  Buechley,  C.  G.  Lint,  J.  B.  Moser,  and  others. 

The  action  of  the  committee  is  of  unusual  importance,  from  the 


504  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

fact  that  it  became  the  entering  wedge  which  divided  a  large 
denomination,  one  part  of  which  became  a  new  organization. 

After  the  usual  devotional  services,  in  which  Elder  Quinter 
took  some  part,  John  Wise  stated  that  they  were  present  as  a 
committee  appointed  by  annual  meeting  to  the  Berlin  church  to 
investigate  Brother  Holsinger's  case,  and  then  said  the  first  thing 
in  order  would  be  to  know  whether  they  are  accepted  by  the 
Berlin  congregation,  and  proposed  to  withdraw  so  as  to  enable 
the  members  of  the  church  to  express  their  opinion  without  any 
intimidation. 

The  committee  then  withdrew  from  the  council  room,  and 
during  their  absence  the  church  unanimously  agreed  to  accept 
the  committee. 

The  committee  then  objected  to  the  house  in  which  the  council 
was  being  held  as  being  too  small.  The  church,  however, 
decided  in  favor  of  the  place.  The  committee  would  have  pre- 
ferred to  go  to  the  Grove  church,  about  a  mile  out  of  town,  but 
as  that  was  outside  of  the  Berlin  church  territory,  the  members 
could  not  consent  to  the  removal.  The  afternoon  session  was 
held  in  the  Methodist  church.  It  was  hard  to  understand  why 
the  committee  should  want  larger  apartments  when  they  wished 
to  exclude  the  audience. 

The  next  objection  was  in  regard  to  the  reporter.  John  Wise 
stated  that  this  was  a  departure  from  the  usages  of  the  general 
brotherhood,  and  that  it  was  never  so  done  to  his  knowledge  on 
any  former  occasion,  and  therefore  should  not  be  done  in  this 
case.  To  which  I  replied  that  there  never  was  a  case  exactly 
like  this  in  the  history  of  the  Tunker  Church  ;  that  no  other  man 
had  ever  been  tried  for  similar  charges  ;  that  I  had  employed  the 
stenographer  at  my  own  expense ;  he  was  a  member  of  the 
church,  and  was  responsible  and  competent,  and  that  for  my 
own  satisfaction  and  in  justice  to  myself  I  had  determined  to 
have  the  report  taken  down  in  full,  and  that  in  this,  my  church 
was  unanimous  in  my  favor,  and  consequently  intimated  that 
part  was  a  settled  matter ;  but  in  case  of  publishing  the  report  I 
would  be  accountable  to  the  church  at  large  for  any  injury  that 
might  result. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  505 

After  discussing  the  subject  for  some  time,  the  committee 
retired  again,  and  the  church  passed  the  following  resolution : — 

''Resolved,  That  we  insist  upon  having  a  full  report  taken  of 
the  sayings  and  doings  of  this  committee  and    council." 

This  ended  the  first  half-day's  business. 

In  the  afternoon  John  Wise  quoted  the  following  passage  of 
scripture,  "But  if  he  neglect  to  hear  the  church,  let  him  be  unto 
thee  as  a  heathen  and  a  publican,"  and  then  proceeded  to  argue, 
"You  are  to  tell  it  to  the  church,  not  to  a  mixed  assembly,"  and 
other  arguments  in  favor  of  a  private  council.  I  then  said:  "It 
had  been  announced  at  our  public  meetings  that  this  council 
would  be  a  business  meeting,  and  that  none  but  members  are 
invited ;  that  others  would  take  no  interest  in  the  business ;  that 
we  were  neither  a  military  organization  nor  a  secret  society, 
therefore  none  were  here  by  invitation,  except  members  of  the 
church.  All  who  are  present  are  perfectly  welcome,  so  far  as  we 
are  concerned,  but  no  one  will  be  expected  to  take  part  in  the 
work  of  the  council  except  members  of  the  church.  The  general 
brotherhood  is  interested  in  the  business  of  this  council,  and  has 
a  right  to  know  what  was  done  and  how  and  why.  This  is  no 
ordinary  church  meeting.  There  is  no  similarity  between  this 
case  and  the  passages  of  Scripture  referred  to.  If  I  am  guilty 
of  any  wrong-doing  I  am  willing  that  the  world  shall  know  of  it. 
Having  been  publicly  accused,  I  am  determined  to  be  as  publicly 
vindicated.  If,  however,  the  committee  sees  proper  to  exclude 
all  except  the  Berlin  church  and  themselves,  I  presume  it  is  their 
privilege  to  do  so,  but  we  will  not  do  it." 

Elder  Long  asked,  "Are  you  sure,  Brother  Henry,  that  your 
congregation  will  not  do  it?" 

I  replied  that  they  could  speak  for  themselves,  that  those  in 
affirmative  should  rise  and  be  counted,  in  response  to  which 
seventy-one  members  arose,  and  so  that  point  was  settled. 

Elder  Kaufrrnan  remarked :  "We  are  here  as  a  committee  sent 
from  annual  meeting  to  do  business.  We  dare  not  depart  from 
the  usages  of  the  church.  We  must  make  our  report  to  annual 
meeting,  and  dare  not  digress  from  our  orders.     We  can  not  come 


506  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

here  and  sanction  the  idea  of  having  this  council  meeting  held 
open  and  public  ;  neither  can  we  sanction  having  the  report  of 
the  proceedings  published.  And  you  should  not  ask  us  to  digress 
from  the  usages  of  the  church.  If  any  such  privilege  be  taken, 
we  want  the  responsibility  to  rest  right  here  with  you." 

To  this  I  replied:  "I  can  hardly  see  why  the  committee  dare 
not  digress  from  the  usages.  I  know  of  no  scripture  that  forbids 
them  to  make  a  new  record  of  a  new  case.  Can  you  not  for  once 
throw  by  the  usages,  and  say  that  you  will  do  'as  seemeth  good 
to  us  and  the  Holy  Ghost'  ?  Are  you  really  bound  by  the  usages 
of  the  fathers?  I  am  sure  this  church  has  assumed  the  respon- 
sibility. The  church  has  unanimously  decided  that  we  will  have 
a  full  report  and  an  open  council.  We  have  put  ourselves  upon 
record,  deliberately  making  this  statement  in  both  German  and 
English,  and  giving  every  member  an  opportunity  to  express  his 
sentiments  before  taking  the  vote." 

There  was  some  further  discussion  between  the  committee  and 
the  church  till  late  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  following  resolution 
was  unanimously  adopted:  "That  this  council  shall  be  held 
openly  to  all  members,  and  persons  not  members  of  the  Brethren 
Church  will  be  considered  present  by  courtesy  only;  and  none 
but  the  members  of  the  Berlin  church  and  the  committee  are 
invited  to  participate  in  the  business ;"  and  so  the  first  day's 
work  closed  with  apparent  hopeful  feeling  that  in  the  morning 
the  business  of  the  committee  would  proceed.  However,  next 
morning  the  committee  stated  that  they  feared  there  was  a  mis- 
understanding, and  that  therefore  they  proposed  to  proceed  to  a 
careful  explanation  to  the  church  ;  that  they  had  understood  that 
the  church  presumed  that  the  committee  would  go  ahead  with 
the  trial;  that  yesterday  they  had  demurred,  and  that  they  did 
so  this  morning;  that  they  stood  upon  the  authority  of  the  gospel, 
and  would  submit  to  the  usages  of  the  general  brotherhood ;  that 
they  stood  free  from  any  further  investigation  in  the  matter. 
Said  they :  "We  told  you  yesterday  that  we  understood  the  usages 
of  our  brotherhood  are  based  upon  the  Word  of  God.  We  are 
conscientious  in  the  matter;  and  as  a  body  of  the  brethren  will 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  507 

not  put  ourselves  on  record,  and  then  in  less  than  twenty-four 
hours  go  directly  against  the  record  we  made.  We  place  our- 
selves on  record,  and  we  propose  to  stand  upon  the  record  we 
have  made.  You  place  yourselves  upon  record,  and  we  fear 
you  do  not  understand  what  you  are  doing.  We  will  give  you 
an  opportunity  to  reconsider  and  rescind  your  action  of  yesterday." 

The  committee  then  paused  for  some  time,  waiting  for  an 
action  for  reconsideration,  but  no  motion  was  made.  I  then 
endeavored  to  explain  the  situation  to  the  congregation  in  Ger- 
man and  English,  so  that  there  could  be  no  possibility  for  mis- 
apprehension, after  which  a  voice  was  heard,  saying,  ''What  I 
have  written,  I  have  written."  I  think  the  speaker  was  Brother 
Samuel  Forney,  one  of  the  most  venerable  members  of  the 
congregation. 

John  Wise  then  said :  "We  consider  the  matter  is  fairly  before 
the  congregation,  and  if  no  action  is  taken  we  shall  consider  the 
matter  as  standing  by  the  resolution.  We  have  given  time  to 
hear  from  the  congregation,  but  as  there  was  no  response,  and 
as  other  business  is  being  introduced,  we  now  propose  to 
withdraw  and  prepare  our  report." 

At  this  point  Elder  Quinter  remarked,  "Then  you-  don't  give 
them  the  privilege  of  assuming  the  responsibility ;  I  don't  fully 
understand." 

After  some  further  speaking  pro  and  con,  hardly  to  the  point, 
John  Wise  concluded :  "Having  been  sent  here  by  annual  meeting, 
and  as  we  were  spending  our  time  for  the  church,  if  you  have 
any  donations  to  make  they  will  be  gratefully  received  on  the 
part  of  the  committee.  The  amount  of  our  expenses  is  $126. 
It  is  the  general  brotherhood  I  am  addressing." 

After  several  hours'  retirement  the  committee  returned,  and 
rendered  their  verdict,  which  see  above.  Then  they  passed 
around  to  each  individual  member  to  obtain  the  assent  to  their 
decision,  but  all  except  one  member  answered  no.  This  one  was 
Elder  John  P.  Cober,  M.  D.  He  had  voted  with  the  church  in 
favor  of  an  open  council  and  full  report,  but  when  it  came  to  the 
final  test  he  said,  "Ich  gehe  mitt  den  alU;"  I  go  with  the  old  ones. 


508  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

After  the  committee  had  finished  its  work  and  closed  with 
prayers,  the  Berlin  church  met  in  council,  and  after  some  delib- 
erations they  unanimously  passed  the  following  resolution  : — 

"Inasmuch  as  Elder  H.  R.  Holsinger  has  not  violated  any 
gospel  order  of  the  general  brotherhood,  and  not  having  had  a 
trial  of  the  charges  brought  against  him  at  the  annual  meeting  of 
1 88 1,  therefore  the  Berlin  congregation,  including  the  Meyers- 
dale  branch,  will  continue  to  work  together  with  Brother  Hol- 
singer as  our  bishop,  and  we  invite  all  who  are  willing  to  take 
the  gospel  of  Christ  as  the  man  of  their  counsel,  into  church 
fellowship  with  us." 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  whole  issue  hinged  upon  the  open 
council  and  stenographer. 

During  the  time  intervening  between  the  decision  of  the  com- 
mittee and  the  annual  meeting  of  1882,  the  question  under  dis- 
cussion was  whether  I  was  in  the  church  or  outside  of  the  church, 
and  all  the  papers  entered  into  investigation  of  the  subject.  S.  H. 
Bashor  wrote  a  tract  entitled  "Where  Is  Holsinger?"  which  was 
distributed  by  the  thousands  over  the  entire  brotherhood,  and 
was  published  in  the  Progressive  Christian. 

Meanwhile  I  continued  to  publish  the  Progressive  Christian 
with  redoubled  energy  and  largely-increased  subscription  list, 
and  also  had  charge  as  presiding  elder  over  two  adjoining  con- 
gregations. During  the  following  month  I  attended  a  Sunday- 
school  convention  of  the  western  district  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
was  chairman  of  the  meeting,  elected  delegate  by  that  body  to 
the  state  convention  at  Green  Tree  church,  Montgomery  County, 
which  convened  in  the  same  month. 

I  take  the  liberty  to  insert  the  following  article,  published  in 
the  Progressive  Christian  of  September  16,  1881,  written  by 
Professor  Howard  Miller,  which  may  be  accepted  as  truthful 
and  impartial.  Brother  Miller  was  thoroughly  conversant  with 
the  situation,  having  resided  in  Somerset  County  for  several 
years,  and  having  been  associate  editor  of  the  Progressive  Chris- 
tian. He  is  one  of  the  most  able  and  fluent  writers  in  the  frater- 
nity, as  well  as  one  of    the  most    independent    thinkers    in    the 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  509 

country.  I  am  happy  to  say  he  is  still  living  and  writing  for  the 
public  press,  and  at  the  present  time  is  editor  of  the  Inglenook, 
a  weekly,  semi-secular,  German  Baptist  magazine,  published  at 
Elgin,  Illinois. 

THE   BERLIN    SITUATION. 

"The  condition  of  the  church  affairs  at  Berlin  is  one  of  great 
interest  to  all,  involving  as  it  does  a  number  of  principles  of 
church  policy.  A  committee  from  annual  meeting  was  sent  to 
try  the  editor  of  the  Progressive,  and  dispose  of  him  according 
to  his  misdeeds.  They  met,  disagreed  with  him  at  the  outset, 
and  set  him  out.  The  annual  meeting  is  supposed  to  pass  a  final 
affirmation  or  rejection  of  their  action.  There  can  hardly  be  a 
doubt  as  to  their  affirming  the  decision  of  the  lower  court.  And 
unless  Henry  Holsinger  comes  to  the  scratch  of  an  acknowledg- 
ment, he  will  likely  remain  out. 

"Now,  let  us  take  a  look  at  the  dead,  although  Resurgam  might 
be  written  on  his  ecclesiastical  coffin,  and  he  is  likely  to  prove  a 
lively  corpse.  Divested  of  all  its  verbiage,  the  trouble  with 
Henry  is  that  he  is  now,  and  always  has  been,  too  far  ahead  of 
his  day  and  generation.  The  other  side  of  the  house  would  put 
this  to  the  credit  of  his  being  wickedly  fast.  I  write  it  as  being 
farther  seeing  than  the  rest,  and  too  honest  to  become  a  common 
Jeremiah  Funk,  subordinating  intelligence  to  the  prejudices  of 
the  masses.  Let  us  examine  this  statement  a  little.  Who 
originated  the  weekly  press  of  the  church,  and  stood  the  brunt 
of  the  battle  of  its  establishment?  The  committee  people  them- 
selves will  hardly  deny  that  Henry  Holsinger  did  that.  Who 
has  the  paper  now?  Is  it  wicked  Henry  Holsinger  or  the  ele- 
ment devoted  to  his  destruction?  Who  introduced  the  hymn 
and  tune  book?  And  now  who  has  it,  and  who  makes  the  money 
out  of  it?  Who  took  the  shorthand  writer  to  the  annual  meet- 
ing, and  between  fast  Henry  Holsinger  and  the  annual  meeting, 
which  turned  his  stenographer  loose  with  a  left-handed  blessing, 
between  the  man  and  the  other  party,  which  has  the  stenog- 
rapher ?     And  who  makes  the  money  out  of  his  original  venture  so 


5IO  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

disastrous  to  him  ?  In  the  days  of  college  conception,  who  inter- 
ested himself  in  the  establishment  of  one  ?  When  it  meant  some- 
thing to  stand  up  for  higher  education,  who  did  the  most  of  it, 
Holsinger  or  his  opponents?  And  to-day,  with  our  three  edu- 
cational weaklings,  who  is  at  their  head,  reaping  whatever  honor 
or  money  is  in  them?  Is  it  Henry  Holsinger  or  the  other  side? 
And  the  establishment  of  the  progressive  as  an  advance  on  the 
old  ways  of  patting  the  old  man  on  the  back,  and  flattering  him 
out  of  his  senses,  who  now  originates  and  suggests  the  boldest 
innovations?  Where  did  the  idea  that  the  oldest  in  office  should 
not  necessarily  be  ordained  originate  and  take  expression? 
Where  was  it  suggested  that  a  literary  qualification  determined 
by  an  examination  should  precede  installation?  And  from  sing- 
ing the  threadbare  refrain  of  the  good,  goody,  good  old  brother, 
who  now  is  suggesting  measures  and  engaged  in  enterprises  to 
most  effectually  set  him  back? 

"It  is  evident  that  just  as  fast  as  the  honest  and  daring  pioneer 
has  cleared  out  a  farm,  the  camp  followers  move  up,  take  out 
a  patent,  and  serve  a  writ  of  ejectment  on  the  frontiersman.  A 
good  many  fair-minded  people  look  on  this  as  a  part  and  parcel 
of  human  experience,  to  be  rewarded  in  the  hereafter.  The 
negroes  of  the  south  think  they  are  entitled  to  heaven  because 
they  have  been  so  miserable  here.  This  is  an  error  of  the  worst 
stamp.  I  see  the  editor  is  the  recipient  of  letters  of  sympathy, 
'Aw,  poor,  p-o-o-r  Brother  Henry,  etc.,'  and  here  it  ends. 
There  is  nothing  like  adversity  to  try  friends.  In  the  days  when 
the  winds  sing  a  lullaby,  and  the  skies  are  as  sweet  as  a  psalm, 
then  the  rabble  are  hurrahing  approbation  as  they  did  at  the  tri- 
umphal entry  of  Christ  into  Jerusalem.  When  the  shipwreck 
comes,  and  some  one  is  to  be  nailed  up,  where,  then,  is  the  crowd? 
You  could  not  find  the  majority  of  them  with  a  lantern. 

"To  say  that  Henry  Holsinger  has  his  weaknesses  would  be  to 
express  one  of  the  commonest  and  silliest  platitudes.  To  define 
truthfully  the  differences  between  him  and  many  a  one  in  good 
standing  in  the  church  would  be  to  say  that  the  others  have  all 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  511 

his  faults,  overtopped  with  the  vice  of  dissimulation  and  colored 
by  the  sin  of  hypocrisy. 

"The  church  temporal,  being  human,  is  ungrateful.  No  voice 
has  been  raised  giving  Holsinger  credit  for  his  good,  and  the 
same  with  others.  Look  at  Stephen  Bashor !  He  has  done  more 
to  increase  the  membership  of  the  church  than  any  other  man 
living.  Yet  do  the  pseudo  leaders  of  conservative  thought  give 
him  credit  for  it?  or  do  they  tear  and  rend  him?  It  is  held  that 
they  oppose  and  destroy,  and  make  the  church  weep.  Let  us 
see  about  this.  Who  is  the  church  ?  Is  it  a  few  who  think  they 
hold  the  lever  of  the  universe  in  their  hands,  or  is  it  the  great  many 
who  make  up  the  body  ?  The  body  of  the  church  knows  nothing 
about  the  Progressive.  Not  one  in  fifty  sees  or  reads  the  Pro- 
gressive. And  perhaps  not  one  in  a  thousand  really  cares  a  rap 
about  it,  and  rather  enjoys  its  pyrotechnics.  But  here  is  some 
poor,  miserable  specimen  of  conservative  mediocrity  with  his 
mouth  full  of  bad  grammar  and  his  heart  full  of  suspicion  that 
every  line  in  the  paper  is  specially  designed  to  pull  his  little  self 
off  the  picket  fence  of  local  supremacy,  and  something  has  to  be 
done — for  if  he  were  belittled,  it  would  be  just  the  same 
thing  as  destroying  religion  in  the  abstract.  So  to  ease  the 
moral  fever  Holsinger  is  put  out  of  the  church.  But  now  that 
it  is  done,  it  is  well  to  inquire  what  has  been  actually  gained 
by  the  proceedings.  The  Progressive  is  not  suspended.  It 
comes  regularly,  and  gives  its  good  resounding  thwacks  as  of 
yore,  all  the  same.  H.  R.  H.  goes  on  with  his  preaching,  edit- 
ing, and  marrying,  as  usual.  Contributors  without  the  fear  of 
men  before  their  eyes,  characterize  the  committee  as  a  'blast  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  dollars  worth  of  old  orderism,' 
and  the  sun  has  not  failed  to  rise,  the  wells  have  not  gone  dry, 
and  nobody  has  been  whisked  away  in  a  blue  blaze  by  the  supreme 
power  of  Satan. 

"A  good  many  people  are  honest  in  their  convictions  about  the 
disputed  points  of  externalism.  A  man  may  believe  that  he  will 
go  to  hell  if  he  does  not  comb  his  hair  down  all  around,  although 
he  may  not  so  plainly  state  his  position  in  such  vigorous  English, 


512  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

and  if  he  is  honest  about  it,  why,  let  him  go  on  with  his  way. 
No  progressive  objects;  it  does  nobody  any  harm.  But  when  he 
gets  so  high  that  he  will  not  go  to  heaven  with  the  neighbor  who 
parts  his  hair,  then  I  admit  there  is  some  wrong  about  the  matter, 
something  suspicious  about  the  order  of  such  holiness. 

"It  is  only  a  question  of  time  till  every  shadow  of  externalism 
is  wiped  out.  The  sober,  honest,  thoughtful  advocates  of  order 
may  differ,  but  to  such  allow  me  to  ask  if  it  is  held  that  the  young- 
men  and  women  of  the  church  who  graduate  at  our  colleges,  or 
who  go  to  real  colleges  to  graduate,  are  going  to  preach  as  an 
essential  to  salvation  and  fellowship  that  we  must  all  refrain 
from  having  our  hair  cut  short?  If  you  really  think  so,  upon 
what  evidence  given  by  the  product  of  a  thousand  years  of  col- 
leges do  you  base  your  belief?  Imagine  somebody  getting 
thrown  out  of  the  church  for  wearing  suspenders !  And  the  day 
is  not  far  distant  when  no  sister  will  be  thrown  out  for  wearing  a 
hat,  and  no  brother  will  be  disfellowshiped  for  opposing  such 
proceedings. 

k,If  Henry  Holsinger  is  ousted  for  opposition  to  the  faith  and 
practices  of  our  fathers,  why  are  not  James  Quinter  and  Robert 
Miller  thrown  overboard  for  their  offense?  Are  not  they  as 
squarely  set  against  the  order  of  the  brethren  in  putting  them- 
selves at  the  head  of  colleges  when  such  were  absolutely  for- 
bidden long  ago?  It  is  a  fair  question;  answer  it  fairly.  If  it 
is  held  that  changed  times  and  changing  conditions  demand  dif- 
ferent treatment,  I  answer  that  this  is  just  what  Holsinger  has 
been  advocating,  and  he  has  been  disfellowshiped,  not  for  what 
he  is,  but  for  declaring  it.  I  think  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  broad 
principle  that  no  one  should  ever  be  put  aside  except  for  doc- 
trinal and  moral  defections.  Holsinger's  morals  or  faith  were 
not  questioned.  He  was  shelved  because  he  presumed  to  ques- 
tion the  wisdom  of  his  fellows. 

"The  church  is  built  on  the  Arcadian  dream  of  holy  men 
engaged  in  a  holy  cause,  divested  of  baseness  and  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost.  They  are  supposed  to  act  harmoniously  with  the 
church  and  with  each  other.     It  may  even  be  said  that  there  is  no 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  513 

reason  why  it  should  not  be  so.  But  in  practice  it  is  found,  as 
far  as  my  observation  has  gone,  that  in  a  majority  of  cases  the 
ministry  are  the  most  active  and  prominent  factors  in  almost 
every  church  quarrel.  If  it  could  be  so  arranged  that  but  two 
preachers  should  ever  have  any  one  church,  scripture  would  be 
observed,  and  many  a  bitter  quarrel  about  supremacy  avoided. 
As  long  as  from  three  to  ten  men  want  to  ride  one  horse,  and 
all  want  to  ride  in  front,  there  will  be  trouble.  And  so  in  church 
matters  this  is  always,  or  nearly  always,  the  case,  that  from  some 
cause,  usually  jealousy,  the  bitterest  quarrels  come  from  the 
leaders. 

"I  observe  the  committee  gets  a  full  share  of  blame  for  the 
result.  I  hardly  regard  this  as  just,  as  they  only  gave  expression 
to  the  sentiment  that  sent  them  there.  And  after  all  is  said  and 
done,  what  real  business  has  any  progressive  in  the  German  Bap- 
tist Church?  The  church  has  always  prided  herself  on  looking 
backward  to  what  some  one  dead  and  gone  would  have  said  and 
done.  The  majority  of  the  church  is  willing  to  live  and  die  in 
this  faith.  If  there  is  one,  or  a  hundred,  or  a  thousand  who 
prefer  a  different  outlook,  there  are  other  churches,  or  another 
can  be  made.  The  idea  is  deeply  rooted  that  the  Brethren  Church 
and  the  apostolic  days  are  one  thing.  As  a  church  organiza- 
tion there  is  a  lapse  of  over  sixteen  hundred  years  between  it  and 
the  first  Christians.  It  is  only  one  of  many  such.  It  will,  like 
the  many,  be  lost  in  time.  Even  to-day  the  original  founders 
would  disown  the  whole  lot  could  they  come  back.  We  are 
imbued  with  a  spirit  of  what  seems  to  me  to  be  pure  asinine  pride, 
that  usually  takes  form  in  the  expression,  'We  are  the  only  true 
church,'  we  are  the  elect  of  God  ;  all  other  churches  are  wrong. 
The  facts  are,  we  are  only  a  small  lot  of  worshiping  Christians, 
and  can  point  to  no  countries  canvassed,  n©  charities  established 
for  the  sun-struck  strangers,  no  home  for  the  aged  and  widowed, 
no  sleepless  city  missionary,  and  no  learned  scholars  to  cope 
with  the  mental  athletes  of  other  churches  we  are  so  fond  of 
deriding.  Take  the  train  from  Richmond,  Virginia,  to  Mobile, 
Alabama,  or  from  Albany,  New  York,  to  Boston,  Massachusetts, 

33 


514  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

and  not  one  passenger  in  a  hundred  ever  heard  if  there  be  such 
a  thing  as  the  Brethren  Church.  With  such  a  record  as  this  in 
the  century  and  a  half  of  our  sectarian  existence,  the  Berlin  com- 
mittee might,  nay,  more,  the  annual  meeting  could,  have  found 
something  of  greater  value  than  this  little,  unknown  paper  or  its 
editor,  to  make  an  ado  over.  The  new  version  says,  straining 
'out'  a  gnat  and  swallowing  a  camel.  Holsinger  has  been 
strained  out,  and  the  camel  of  ignorance,  of  prejudice,  of  flattery, 
of  a  coming  educated  ministry  that  will  overturn  the  whole  thing, 
are  bolted  without  wisdom  or  questioning. 

"But  what  will  come  of  it  all?  If  the  experience  of  the  world 
is  worth  anything,  the  answer  is  clear.  Take  Simon  Menno  and 
his  church.  We  have  the  old  Mennonites,  the  Reformed  Men- 
nonites,  the  High  Amish  Mennonites,  the  Wislerite  Mennonites, 
the  Holdeman  Mennonites,  the  Staufferite  Mennonites.  With 
Alexander  Mack's  church  we  have  the  Old  Brethren,  the  Brethren, 
the  Congregational  Brethren,  and  the  Progressive  Brethren, 
which  is  the  last.  Could  these  have  been  avoided?  Did  men 
sink  their  littleness  ?  Did  they  forget  their  own  aims  and  remem- 
ber the  strong  points  of  their  opponents,  hiding  their  weak  ones  ? 
Alas !  there  is  so  much  of  us  that  is  of  the  earth,  earthy.  Even 
judgment  is  not  easy  when  we  hear  both  sides.  Man  judges  by 
acts;  God,  by  motives.  Did  the  committee,  or  did  the  church 
which  sent  it,  fathom  and  comprehend  Holsinger's  motives,  or  do 
we  know  the  committee's  motive?  I  have  tried  to  be  honest  and 
fair  in  this  article,  and  when  the  silent  majority  claims  Henry 
Holsinger,  perhaps  men  will  adjudge  a  different  reward." 

Lewisburg,  Pennsylvania. 

FINAL    DECISION    OF    CONFERENCE. 

The  next  chapter  in  the  history  of  this  case  is  the  trial  before 
the  annual  meeting  of  1882,  called  the  Arnold's  Grove  Conference, 
held  near  Milford,  Indiana,  May  30  to  June  2. 

The  case  was  introduced  by  reading  of  the  report  of  Berlin 
committee,  which  has  already  been  recorded  elsewhere. 

An  explanation  being  called  for,  John  Wise  proceeded  to  explain. 
As  the  explanation  is  somewhat  lengthy,  I  will  quote  only  such 
parts  as  introduce  new  or  foreign  matter.     On  page  ten  of  the 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  515 

report  of  annual  meeting  he  says :  "We  have  the  decision  of 
annual  meeting  that  no  member  shall  be  expelled  from  the  church 
without  gospel  authority,  and  the  question  has  been  propounded, 
Where  is  your  gospel  authority  for  declaring  Brother  H.  R. 
Holsinger's  connection  with  this  body  severed?  I  will  endeavor 
to  give  some  of  them,  i  Cor.  5:11:  'Now  I  have  written  unto 
you  not  to  keep  company,  if  any  man  that  is  called  a  brother  be 
a  fornicator,  or  covetous,  or  an  adulterer,  or  a  railer,  or  a  drunk- 
ard, or  an  extortioner,  with  such  an  one  ye  are  not  to  eat.'  I  do 
not  understand  that  a  man  must  be  guilty  of  all  these  crimes 
before  the  church  has  jurisdiction  over  him,  but  if  he  be  found 
guilty  of  any  one  of  them  the  church  has  authority  to  deal  with 
him.  The  next  passage  is  2  Thess.  3:6:  'Now  we  command  you, 
brethren,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  with- 
draw yourselves  from  every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly  and 
not  after  the  tradition  which  ye  received  of  us.'  And  the  four- 
teenth verse,  'And  if  any  man  obey  not  our  word  by  this  epistle, 
note  that  man,  and  have  no  company  with  him,  that  he  may  be 
ashamed.'  Also  Rom.  16:  17,  18,  which  see.  This  is  the  gospel 
authority  we  claim  which  justified  the  action  of  the  committee, 
and  which  we  submit  before  this  meeting." 

Motion  was  then  made  and  seconded  to  adopt  the  report  of 
the  committee.  Pending  the  discussion,  D.  C.  Moomaw  "asked 
privilege  to  introduce  a  motion  to  delay  action  upon  the  question 
until  next  day,  and  for  presenting  some  considerations  as  to  the 
effect  of  this  controversy  upon  the  general  brotherhood.  We 
should  have  but  one  purpose  before  us, — the  harmony  of  the 
church.  The  question  occurs,  Can  this  purpose  be  accomplished 
in  a  better  way  than  by  accepting  the  report  of  the  committee? 
I  think  there  is  a  better  way.  I  know  you  are  willing  to  accede 
to  every  measure  founded  on  the  Bible  and  reason  and  justice 
to  save  Brother  Holsinger.  But  that  is  not  all  that  is  at  stake  in 
this  report.  Not  only  is  Brother  Holsinger  under  the  ban  of  the 
church,  but  all  who  sympathize  with  him.  Why  should  we  not 
exercise  every  measure  to  save  him  and  those  who  are  in  sym- 
pathy with  him?" 


516  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

John  Wise :  "Why,  we  want  that  sympathy  on  our  side." 

Moomaw :  "We  should  always  exercise  sympathy,  but  not  at 
the  sacrifice  of  a  brother.  We  have  an  instrument  to  present  to 
the  meeting,  which  I  will  read :  kThe  olive-branch  of  peace  is  pre- 
sented by  H.  R.  Holsinger  to  the  annual  meeting  of  1882,  as  fol- 
lows :  I,  H.  R.  Holsinger,  do  herein  set  forth  the  following 
declaration  of  purpose  and  conduct,  which  shall  be  my  guide  in 
my  future  relation  with  the  church  : — 

"First.  I  humbly  ask  the  pardon  of  the  brethren  for  all  my 
offenses,  general  and  particular,  committed  through  the  Pro- 
gressive Christian  or  otherwise. 

"Second.  I  promise  hereafter  to  administer  the  discipline  of 
the  church  in  harmony  with  its  practices,  and  will  cease  to  teach 
any  system  of  government  not  in  harmony  with  that  prevailing  in 
the  church,  as  set  forth  by  annual  meeting. 

"Third.  I  promise  to  cease  to  speak  or  write  in  antagonism 
to  the  general  order  of  its  practices  as  now  prevailing  in  the 
church. 

"Fourth.  I  promise  to  cease  the  publication  in  the  Pro- 
gressive Christian,  or  any  other  paper,  of  anything,  in  fact,  in 
opposition  to  annual  meeting. 

"Fifth.  I  promise  to  publish  these  declarations  in  the  Pro- 
gressive Christian,  and  request  that  they  be  placed  upon  the 
minutes  of  this  meeting. 

"Now,  I  ask,  in  behalf  of  peace  and  of  the  salvation  of  a 
great  number  of  brethren,  that  they  be  allowed  until  to-morrow 
morning  to  settle  this  matter  finally,  happily,  and  peacefully." 

Whitmore  Arnold  opposed  any  delay,  and  urged  the  passing  of 
the  report. 

Landon  West  said :  "Wre  heard  the  charges  against  Brother 
Holsinger,  and  the  decisions  rendered,  together  with  the  reasons 
therefor.  Now,  we  ought  to  allow  him  a  defense,  because  if  we 
do  not  we  would  throw  him  out  without  a  trial." 

J.  H.  Moore,  Addison  Harper,  D.  N.  Workman,  R.  H.  Miller, 
and  W.  R.  Deeter,  favored  deferring  the  question  until  to-morrow. 

P.  J.  Brown  asked,  "If  this  report  is  acted  upon,  can  Brother 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  517 

Moomaw's  proposition  for  reconciliation  be  entertained  after- 
wards, or  will  it  be  objected  to  as  not  coming  regularly  before 
the  meeting?"  To  which  the  moderator  replied:  "Brother  Hol- 
singer  can  come  to  the  door  of  the  church,  and  be  received  any 
time  the  same  as  any  expelled  member.  Brother  Moomaw  can 
have  the  privilege  of  presenting  that  paper  after  the  decision  of 
this  meeting,  but  I  think  the  meeting  would  rather  that  Brother 
Holsinger  would  present  it  himself  and  not  through  others." 

Daniel  P.  Sayler  did  not  consider  the  motion  to  defer  action 
was  in  order.  He  said :  "The  committee  are  the  servants  of  the 
annual  meeting.  They  were  appointed  by  it  to  go  to  Berlin  and 
investigate  certain  matters.  They  did  so,  and  then  were  rejected 
by  the  church  there.  The  only  alternate  was  to  make  a  report  of 
their  doings  to  this  meeting.  This  they  have  done,  and  now  it  is 
for  this  meeting  to  accept  or  reject  that  report.  Their  reputa- 
tion must  be  maintained  and  vindicated.  During  the  entire  year 
the  doings  of  that  committee  have  been  slandered  and  reviled. 
The  work  has  been  called  infamous  and  I  don't  know  what  all. 
Tracts  have  been  published  and  put  out  to  injure  the  reputation  of 
the  committee.  Now,  unless  this  meeting  gives  an  expression  on 
their  doings,  their  reputation  is  not  vindicated.  Vindicate  their 
reputation  at  this  meeting,  then  a  motion  to  give  way  or  submit 
to  their  overtures  is  in  order,  and  I  for  one  am  ready  to  receive 
it  the  very  minute  after  action  has  been  taken  on  this  report. 
Don't  put  it  off  until  to-morrow  morning.  I  am  ready  to  receive 
it  at  any  time.  The  reputation  of  the  committee  is  at  stake,  and 
must  be  vindicated.  If  this  kind  of  concession  had  been  made 
to  the  committee,  their  report  would  have  been  very  different  from 
what  it  is,  but  no  concession  was  made,  and,  consequently,  on  the 
testimony  before  them  they  made  their  report.  It  is  now  the 
duty  of  the  annual  meeting  to  accept  that  report  and  say  they 
acted  advisedly." 

I  then  made  the  following  statement :  "I  have  lost  my  voice, 
and  I  am  obliged  to  appear  by  proxy.  My  brethren  have  agreed 
to  assist  me  and  speak  for  me.  That  is  the  reason  why  the  paper 
was    presented    by  Brother    Moomaw    instead  of    by  myself.     I 


518  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

know  its  contents,  and  he  was  authorized  to  present  the  paper. 
I  wish  to  say  that  if  the  motion  now  before  the  house  will  be 
passed,  then  this  paper  will  not  be  offered.  The  concessions 
therein  made  were  made  in  view  to  a  reconciliation.  A  number 
of  the  brethren  agreed  that  a  better  thing  can  be  done  than  to 
adopt  the  report  of  the  committee,  which  would  expel  me  from 
the  church,  with  all  who  are  in  sympathy  with  me." 

Right  here  I  will  offer  an  explanation.  It  may  not  be  clear 
to  everybody  why  I  would  not  present  the  paper  offered  by 
Brother  Moomaw,  after  the  passage  of  the  motion  before  the 
house.  My  explanation  is  as  follows  :  The  passage  of  the  motion 
to  adopt  the  report  of  the  Berlin  committee  would  have  expelled 
me  from  the  church.  There  would  then  have  been  no  recourse 
for  me  but  to  acknowledge  the  justice  of  the  action  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  make  such  other  conciliations  as  they  might  demand 
of  me,  and  thus  be  reinstated  as  an  expelled  member.  That  I 
could  not  then  have  done,  can  not  now,  and  never  will  do.  I 
should  despise  myself  as  a  hypocrite  and  a  coward  of  the  worst 
class  if  I  should  consent  to  truckle  to  the  whims  of  ignorance  and 
superstition  to  such  an  extent  as  to  recognize  the  righteousness 
of  their  cause.  To  have  consented  to  the  propositions  of  the 
olive  branch  of  peace  would  have  been  simply  to  acknowledge 
myself  a  human  being,  possessed  of  the  common  frailties  of 
humanity,  but  to  have  then  or  now  recognized  the  action  of  the 
Berlin  committee  as  being  a  just  disposition  of  my  case,  would 
have  been  to  stifle  judgment,  conscience,  and  every  sense  of 
honor  and  manhood. 

Robert  H.  Miller  said :  "This  is  a  peculiar  case  of  the  trial  of 
a  brother,  which  occurred  in  a  very  peculiar  manner.  The  report 
has  come  here  condemning  him.  You  have  heard  the  report,  and 
before  the  brother  was  ever  heard  at  all,  a  motion  was  made  to 
accept  the  report.  We  were  asked  to  accept  the  report  without 
hearing  the  brother  at  all.  I  have  opposed  that  brother  more  than 
any  one  in  the  brotherhood.  And  though  I  have  been  against 
him  often  and  contended  with  him  long  and  mudi,  yet  to-day  I 
am  not  readv  to  vote  until  that  brother  has  had  an  opportunity 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  519 

to  be  heard.  He  has  not  been  heard.  Hence,  I  favor  the  motion 
to  give  all  the  time  he  asks  for  to  make  a  full  answer  to  the 
charges  made  against  him.  Then  we  will  decide  whether  to 
accept  this  report  or  not." 

I.  D.  Parker  and  P.  S.  Meyers  favored  the  motion  to  defer,  but 
John  P.  Ebersole  said:  "I  am  just  like  Brother  Robert  Miller; 
I  have  never  been  a  friend  of  Henry's  course,  but  I  tell  you  when 
he  comes  up  as  he  has  done  here,  then  I  am  in  favor  of  deferring 
it.  You  are  not  only  working  for  Brother  Henry,  but  for  hun- 
dreds of  others.  You  will  be  expelling  hundreds  of  others  when 
you  expel  him.  I  am  for  mercy.  Defer  it  until  to-morrow,  and 
give  him  all  the  chance  you  can.  If  you  do  that,  you  will  show 
that  you  are  willing  to  give  him  all  that  he  can  possibly  ask  for, 
and,  mind  you,  it  will  be  done  for  the  benefit  of  the  general 
brotherhood." 

Daniel  P.  Sayler  offered  the  following  remarks:  'There  were 
charges  brought  against  Brother  Holsinger,  and  there  was  a  com- 
mittee appointed  to  go  and  investigate  the  matter,  and  deal  with 
him  according  to  his  transgressions.  The  committee  went  there 
and  investigated  the  matter,  and  gave  him  a  trial,  or  offered  to  do 
so.  He  laid  down  the  rules  on  which  he  would  come  to  trial,  but 
the  committee  would  not  accept,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not 
according  to  the  Scriptures  nor  the  usages  of  the  brotherhood. 
He  refused  to  accede  to  the  requirements  of  the  committee,  and, 
as  is  the  order  and  custom  of  the  church,  the  committee  has  dealt 
with  him,  and  their  report  is  now  before  us.  That  report  is  what 
we  have  to  act  upon  now.  The  brethren  have  spoken  of  mercy. 
I  trust  we  are  all  on  the  side  of  mercy,  but  H.  R.  Holsinger  never 
mentioned  it  in  the  arguments  set  forth  by  others  to  sustain  him 
in  defying  that  report.  Nothing  was  said  about  mercy  until  it 
was  mentioned  here.  I  am  opposed  to  deviating  one  moment. 
Would  it  be  reasonable  to  send  a  committee  to  me  and  I  reject 
that  committee  ana!  not  accept  its  rulings,  and  then  come  before 
the  annual  meeting  with  a  compromise? — No.  The  matter  is 
plain.  Do  not  let  our  sympathies  run  away  with  our  judgment." 
Jacob  Rife,  Jesse  Crosswhite,  Lemuel  Hillary,  S.  S.  Mohler, 


520  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Daniel  Vaniman  all  favored  immediate  action  upon  the  original 
motion.  R.  Z.  Replogle  remarked :  "In  the  report  of  last  annual 
meeting  you  will  find  that  the  committee  was  to  wait  on  Brother 
Holsinger,  and  deal  with  him  according  to  his  transgressions. 
If  you  accept  their  report  with  the  explanation  of  Brother  Wise, 
they  dealt  with  him  according  to  what  he  did  while  they  were 
present.  Brother  Holsinger  thought  that  inasmuch  as  he  was 
openly  accused,  first,  through  the  various  district  meetings,  and 
then  the  annual  meeting,  and  lastly  through  the  public  report, 
he  had  a  right  to  public  vindication.  He  was  expelled  according 
to  the  report,  as  well  as  the  explanation  given,  because  he  would 
not  submit  to  a  private  trial." 

Noticing  that  the  time  had  drawn  well  into  the  afternoon,  and 
witnessing  evident  indications  of  bitter  feeling  against  me,  and 
fearing  that  the  question  of  deferring  would  consume  the  whole 
day,  all  to  no  advantage,  I  tired  of  the  effort,  and  proposed  that 
Brother  Moomaw  and  his  second  should  withdraw  the  motion. 

The  moderator  then  announced  that  the  original  motion  was 
now  under  discussion,  when  S.  S.  Mohler  said  he  thought  it  had 
been  discussed  fully,  when  I  offered  the  following  remarks : — 

"I  agree  the  one  side  has  been  argued,  but  the  defense  has  not 
been  heard  from.  One  point  presented  by  Brother  Wise  I  wish 
to  correct.  He  signified  there  were  two  charges  brought  against 
me :  first,  that  of  refusing  to  be  tried  according  to  the  usages  of 
the  church,  and  having  a  stenograher ;  and  second,  for  insisting 
upon  an  open  council.  In  my  view  there  is  only  one  charge 
involved, — that  of  the  stenographer.  The  open  council  was  a 
matter  entirely  with  the  committee.  The  key  of  the  church  was 
tendered  them,  and  they  might  have  excluded  the  audience,  and 
thus  we  threw  the  responsibility  upon  them.  They  could  have 
held  the  council  with  closed  doors  if  they  had  wished  to,  but  we 
would  not  exclude  any  one  from  the  council. 

"This  morning  for  the  first  time  I  heard  the  charge  of  raillery 
placed  to  my  account.  I  certainly  have  not  been  tried  for  raillery. 
It  was  also  stated  by  some  of  the  speakers  that  I  had  a  trial.  All 
who  have  read  the  report  know  that  is  not  a  fact.     I  had  no  trial, 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  521 

and  the  report  of  the  committee  read  this  morning  does  not  say 
so ;  neither  does  it  charge  me  with  any  of  the  crimes  referred  to 
in  the  passages  of  Scripture.  The  report  winds  up  as  follows  : 
Tn  view  of  the  above  considerations,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  Brother  H.  R.  Holsinger  refused  to  have  his  case  investi- 
gated by  the  committee  in  harmony  with  the  gospel,  as  interpreted 
by  annual  meeting,  and  the  consent  of  our  general  brotherhood ; 
and  inasmuch  as  Brother  Holsinger  and  the  Berlin  church  assumed 
all  responsibility  in  the  case ;  therefore,  we  decide.' 

"The  report  does  not  say  that,  because  I  was  guilty  of  raillery, 
therefore,  they  came  to  this  conclusion  ;  but  they  simply  acted  upon 
one  charge, — that  of  refusing  to  be  investigated  according  to 
previous  usages.  I  have  stated  at  different  times  that  there  never 
was  a  case  exactly  like  mine  in  the  history  of  the  church,  and 
that  this  being  a  new  case  the  committee  might  have  deviated 
from  the  usages,  and  acted  according  to  common  sense,  and  given 
me  a  fair  hearing.  When  those  passages  of  Scripture  were  read 
this  morrting  in  confirmation  of  the  decision  of  the  committee,  I 
thought  Brother  Wise  should  have  done  me  the  simple  justice  to 
declare  that  I  stood  unimpeached  of  the  crimes  enumerated, 
except  the  one  with  which  he  wished  to  charge  me.  There  were 
many  strangers  present  who  knew  nothing  of  my  case  except 
what  they  learned  here,  and  I  demand  of  this  meeting,  whatever 
may  be  the  result  of  the  case,  that  you  will  clear  me  of  any  of  the 
gross  charges  alluded  to  in  the  scripture  read." 

J.  W.  Beer  said :  "It  has  been  stated,  and  repeated  with  empha- 
sis, that  the  only  question  we  had  to  decide  upon  was  as  to  the 
legality  of  the  decision.  That  is  a  mistake.  The  action  may  be 
legal,  and  yet  should  not  be  accepted.  The  apostle  Paul  says,  'All 
things  are  lawful,  but  all  things  are  not  expedient/  The  action 
of  the  committee  may  be  lawful,  and  yet  the  question  of  expedi- 
ency might  arise.  I  believe  the  action  of  expelling  Brother 
Holsinger  was  too  hasty.  There  was  ample  room  for  misunder- 
standing between  him  and  the  committee.  There  was  a  mis- 
understanding between  the  committee  to  whom  the  papers  relating 
to  Brother  Holsinger  were  given  at  the  annual  meeting  of  1881 


522  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

and  the  annual  meeting  itself.  Many  present  misunderstood  the 
action  of  the  committee.  When  the  report  was  brought  in  it  was 
advised  that  a  committee  be  sent  to  H.  R.  Holsinger,  to  deal 
with  him  according  to  his  transgressions.  Brother-  Holsinger 
called  attention  to  the  difference  of  expression  in  regard  to  his 
case,  and  that  of  another.  One  of  the  committee  on  Holsinger's 
papers  has  since  explained  that  it  was  not  their  intention  to  go 
to  Berlin  to  investigate  the  case,  for  if  the  committee  sent  there 
had  investigated  the  case,  it  would  have  presented  its  authority, 
and  would  have  done  the  work  which  the  annual  meeting  had 
sent  it  to  do.  Now,  while  that  was  the  understanding  on  the 
part  of  the  committee  who  recommended  the  committee  to  be  sent 
to  Berlin,  many  of  us  understood  that  the  committee  should  inves- 
tigate the  case,  and  give  him  an  honorable  and  a  fair  chance. 
I  base  my  arguments  on  the  expressions  used  by  the  Berlin  com- 
mittee when  they  came  there.  They  stated  that  they  came  to 
investigate  the  case  of  H.  R.  Holsinger,  and  whenever  the  object 
of  their  visit  was  mentioned  it  was  to  investigate  that  case ;  and  ii 
was  not  until  the  report  of  that  committee  was  brought  in  that  the 
expression  was  used  that  they  were  sent  to  deal  with  him  accord- 
ing to  his  transgressions.  If  the  Berlin  committee  understood  it 
was  their  duty  to  deal  with  Holsinger  according  to  his  trans- 
gressions, and  not  to  investigate  the  case,  why  was  it  presented 
in  this  way?  We  have  it  in  their  own  words  that  they  felt  it 
their  duty  to  give  him  a  trial.  Hence,  I  feel  the  action  was 
injudicious. 

"Brother  Holsinger  was  charged  publicly  at  our  last  annual 
meeting.  This  meeting  is  not  composed  of  brethren  and  sisters 
alone.  There  are  present  intelligent  minds  interested  in  the  cause 
of  religion  not  of  our  brotherhood.  The  charges  were  publicly 
made  and  publicly  placed  on  record,  in  the  report  of  annual  meet- 
ing. He  was  also  publicly  charged  in  the  minutes  of  our  meet- 
ing. Under  those  circumstances  it  appeared  to  the  Berlin  church 
that  they  had  a  right  to  demand  a  public  trial." 

Samuel  Mohler :  "The  nature  of  the  case  and  the  condition  of 
the  church  demand  that  we  take  action  in  this  matter.     A  great 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  523 

many  in  the  Miami  Valley  are  holding  back  to  see  what  this 
meeting  will  do  in  this  case.  How  long  have  we  borne  with  this 
man? — A  long  time.  And  many  hard  and  rough  expressions 
were  put  out  by  him.  If  this  meeting  does  not  accept  the  deci- 
sion of  that  committee,  I  shall  dread  the  consequences  in  the 
Miami  Valley.  We  may  lose  some  members  if  we  adopt  the 
report,  but  I  am  satisfied  we  shall  lose  more  if  the  work  of  that 
committee  is  not  accepted  by  this  meeting." 

George  Hanawalt :  "The  brother  spoke  of  the  Miami  Valley. 
The  result  will  not  be  confined  there.  Our  action  will  be  felt  in 
western  Pennsylvania  also.  There  are  hundreds  of  members 
waiting,  trembling  for  the  issue.  I  rise  not  in  sympathy  with 
Brother  Holsinger,  but  on  the  question  of  the  propriety  of  that 
report.  The  report  of  that  committee  does  not  touch  the  matters 
they  were  sent  to  investigate.  It  does  not  even  mention  them,  but 
they  have  taken  up  a  new  case.  A  second  committee  might  act 
on  those  questions,  but  I  do  not  believe  this  committee  has  a  right 
to  go  there  with  those  charges  locked  up  in  a  satchel,  and  never 
present  them  to  Brother  Holsinger  at  all,  and  go  off  on  another 
matter,  which  was  simply  a  matter  of  expediency.  It  was  sim- 
ply a  matter  of  whether  they  would  hold  an  open  council  and 
employ  a  stenographer.  The  committee  might  have  reported  that 
they  did  not  desire  to  have  the  matter  conducted  publicly,  and 
that  Brother  Holsinger  was  obstinate,  and  another  committee 
might  have  been  sent,  as  is  frequently  done,  with  power  and 
instruction.  I  oppose  the  confirmation  of  the  report  because  it 
does  not  touch  on  the  business  it  was  sent  to  do,  and  has  turned 
away  to  something  else,  and  has  assumed  the  entire  responsibility, 
which  I  think  is  quite  as  great  as  the  Berlin  church  assumed. 
Has  this  been  done  in  the  interest  of  union  among  the  people  of 
God,  and  is  it  fair  and  equal  dealing?  I  agree  with  Brother 
Beer  and  the  apostle  Paul,  that  'all  things  are  lawful,  but  all 
things  are  not  expedient.'  This  seems  to  be  one  of  the  things  that 
is  not  expedient.  This  action  will  affect  the  Brethren  Church 
throughout  the  whole  land." 

A.  J.  Hickson :  "Every  person  understands  that  he  is  tried  upon 


524  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

an  indictment.  If  an  indictment  is  found  for  stealing  a  horse, 
you  can  not  try  the  person  for  stealing  a  sheep.  Brother  Hol- 
singer  was  charged  with  violating  some  principles  of  the  church. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  go  over  there  and  try  him  on  that 
charge.  That  was  what  they  were  appointed  for.  They  went 
there,  but  they  tried  him  for  something  else  that  occurred  there, 
that  is,  something  new.  If  you  accept  their  decision,  you  place 
yourselves  in  the  position  to  say  that  annual  meeting  can  prefer 
charges  against  a  man,  and  the  committee  may  go  and  try  him 
for  something  else.  I  am  opposed  to  the  report  of  that  commit- 
tee. A  brother  suggested  that  this  would  create  disturbance  in 
the  Miami  Valley.  The  decision,  whether  you  accept  the  report 
or  not,  will  not  affect  more  than  fifty  men  in  the  valley,  but  if 
you  confirm  the  report  of  the  committee,  there  are  hoary-headed 
men  around  the  table  who  believe  it  will  seriously  affect  thou- 
sands, and  that  you  will  lose  more  by  confirming  than  by  reject- 
ing it.  Besides,  it  is  not  legal.  There  is  no  precedent  in  our 
church  history  of  a  committee  expelling  a  brother  for  something 
of  which  he  had  not  been  charged." 

John  Wise :  "We  went  there  to  try  him  for  violating  the  rules 
of  the  church,  and  we  disfellowshiped  him  for  that  in  our  report. 
We  wanted  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  case  before  the  church, 
but  they  would  not  permit  it  in  the  manner  the  annual  meeting 
had  directed  fifty  years  ago  that  our  meeting  should  be  held,  and 
consequently  gave  us  the  emphatic  declaration,  'This  is  the  first 
committee  ever  sent  by  annual  meeting  to  the  Berlin  church.' 
That  is  a  mistake.  In  1865  there  was  a  committee  sent  to  the 
Berlin  church.  This  is  insubordination  to  the  usages  of  the  gen- 
eral brotherhood,  and  a  plain  declaration  that  the  Berlin  church 
shall  be  congregational  in  its  character  and  not  be  controlled. 
That  is  one  of  the  things  found  contrary  to  the  usages  of  the 
church." 

The  moderator  then  said,  "The  question  has  been  called  for, 
and  I  will  have  to  put  it  before  the  house,"  when  I  asked  for  privi- 
lege of  a  final  word,  which  was  granted  after  some  parleying. 
I  then  said :  "I  simply  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  when 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  525 

Brother  Wise  represented  what  was  said  at  the  Berlin  church  he 
did  not  read  from  the  report.  I  also  wish  to  reaffirm  my  former 
statement  that  this  was  the  first  committee  ever  sent  to  the  Berlin 
church.  Brother  Wise  was  mistaken  when  he  said  that  in  1865 
there  was  a  committee  sent  to  the  Berlin  church,  and  he  ought 
to  know  better,  for  he  was  on  that  committee  which  was  sent  to 
Berlin,  but  not  to  the  Berlin  church.  It  was  the  Brothers'  Valley 
church,  and  the  town  of  Berlin  was  in  the  territory  covered  by  the 
congregation.  In  1879  the  Brothers'  Valley  church  was  sub- 
divided into  four  churches,  severally  named  Brothers'  Valley, 
Berlin,  Stony  Creek,  and  Somerset.  This  is  not  a  mere  technical- 
ity.    It  is  an  important  statement,  and  I  know  what  I  am  saying. 

"But  I  am  not  able  for  this  occasion.  My  voice  is  failing  me, 
and  I  have  a  very  severe  headache.  I  will,  therefore,  submit  all 
to  you.  I  have  always  withstood  all  attempts  to  separate  from 
the  body  of  the  church,  but  all  has  failed,  and  all  that  I  can  do 
now  is  to  trust  my  case  into  your  hands,  and  unto  the  guidance 
of  the  kind  providence  that  overrules  all." 

The  motion  was  then  put  before  the  house,  and  the  report  of 
the  Berlin  committee  was  adopted.  So  ended  the  second  act  in 
the  drama. 

I  have  not  space  to  expatiate  upon  my  feelings  or  the  results 
of  the  decision.  I  walked  out  from  under  the  council  tent,  think- 
ing only  of  my  congregation  at  Berlin.  On  entering  the  vast 
throng  outside  I  was  greeted  by  many  of  my  friends  and  brethren 
and  patrons,  who  offered  words  of  encouragement  and  approba- 
tion. After  consultations  it  was  agreed  to  call  a  public  meeting 
on  Tuesday  evening,  May  30,  at  a  schoolhouse  a  mile  west  of  the 
place  of  conference,  for  the  purpose  ot  consulting  upon  the  proper 
step  to  be  taken.  It  seems  prudent  to  state  at  this  period  that  I 
was  the  least  interested  among  all  the  aggrieved  progressive 
brethren.  I  have,  therefore,  to  thank  my  friends  for  my  salva- 
tion in  that  dark  hour  of  temptation.  He  who  was  merciful  to 
the  thief  on  the  cross,  caused  the  hearts  of  His  own  to  have  com- 
passion on  him  who  erstwhile  would  have  been  an  outcast  and 
wanderer. 


526  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

FIRST    MEETING    AT    SCHOOLHOUSE    NO.    7. 

There  was  a  good  attendance  at  the  schoolhouse  for  the  short 
notice  that  had  been  given.  Elder  P.  J.  Brown  was  called  to  the 
chair,  and,  after  devotional  services,  the  object  of  the  meeting 
was  stated.  The  following  motion  then  prevailed :  "That  we 
extend  to  Brother  Holsinger  our  Christian  sympathy,  and  until 
he  is  guilty  of  a  violation  of  the  gospel  or  well-defined  moral 
principle,  we  will  consider  him  as  illegally  expelled."  A  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  draft  a  memorial  to  the  standing  commit- 
tee, with  a  view  of  making  one  more  effort  to  prevent  a  division 
of  the  church, — J.  W.  Beer,  Dr.  J.  E.  Roop,  and  David  Bailey, — 
with  instructions  to  report  at -next  meeting. 

The  next  meeting  was  held  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  May  31. 
The  memorial  committee  reported  the  following: — 

MEMORIAL. 

"Arnolds,  Elkhart  Co.,  Ind.,  May  31,  1882. 
"To  the  standing  committee — 

"Dear  Brethren  in  Annual  Meeting  Assembled,  Greeting: 
We,  your  petitioners,  would  beg  leave  to  say  that  we  feel 
aggrieved  at  yesterday's  action  in  the  case  of  Elder  H.  R.  Hol- 
singer and  his  friends,  and  feeling  that  another  division  in  the 
brotherhood  is  imminent,  and  deploring  an  event  fraught  with  so 
much  evil,  we  humbly  petition  for  a  joint  committee,  say  of  twelve 
brethren,  half  to  be  selected  by  progressive  brethren  and  the  other 
half  by  your  body,  and  they  prepare  a  plan  for  a  general  recon- 
ciliation between  the  annual  meeting  and  all  the  brethren  called 
progressive,  and  we  hope  you  will  hear  us  in  this  our  earnest 
request,  so  that  further  division  may  be  prevented/' 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  adopted,  and  Dr.  J.  E.  Roop 
and  Elder  J.  W.  Beer  were  appointed  to  carry  the  memorial  to 
the  standing  committee  and  receive  their  reply,  with  request  to 
ask  for  an  early  response. 

The  next  session  convened  on  Thursday  forenoon,  June  1. 
The  committee  appointed  to  carry  the  memorial  to  the  standing 
committee  reported  having  discharged  their  duty,  and  presented 
the  following  reply  from  the  standing  committee  : — 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  527 

REPORT  OF   STANDING   COMMITTEE. 

"Respected  Brethren  of  the  Committee:  Inasmuch  as  the 
annual  meeting  of  1881  ruled  out  the  Miami  Petition  upon  the 
ground  that  it  had  not  come  through  the  district  meeting,  thus 
settling  the  question  of  her  ruling,  therefore  the  standing  com- 
mittee can  not  receive  anything  that  does  not  come  in  regular 
or(ier.  E.  Eby,  Moderator. 

"James  Quinter,  Clerk. 

"John  Wise,  Reading  Clerk. 

"June  1,  1882." 

The  report  of  our  committee  was  received,  and  the  committee 
discharged  with  the  thanks  of  the  meeting. 

It  was  now  believed  by  all  that  every  means  had  been  exhausted 
from  which  any  hope  for  compromise  or  reconciliation  could  be 
derived.  The  meeting  had  been  standing  still  to  "see  the  sal- 
vation of  the  Lord,"  and  now  it  was  believed  the  time  had  come 
when  the  Lord  said,  "Go  forward !" 

"The  committee  on  resolutions  then  presented  the  following: — 

REPORT   OF    COMMITTEE    ON    RESOLUTIONS. 

"Inasmuch  as  Christ  gave  His  people  a  complete  plan  of  sal- 
vation, containing  neither  too  much  nor  too  little ;  and  inasmuch 
as  no  church  during  all  the  history  of  the  past  has  successfully 
made  additions  to  or  subtractions  from  it  through  mandatory 
legislation  without  causing  discord  and  troubles;  and  inasmuch 
as  reformations  have  universally  tended  to  reaffirm  the  primitive 
doctrine  of  Christ  by  divesting  it  of  accumulated  decrees,  enact- 
ments, and  laws  made  by  church  leaders,  which  have  always 
tended  toward  abridging  God-given  liberty,  and  that  church  legis- 
lation has  had  a  tendency  in  all  ages  to  run  into  corruption  and 
abuse  of  power,  and  the  history  of  Christendom  is  full  of 
examples  of  suffering  and  ostracism  as  its  legitimate  offspring; 
and, 

"Whereas,  We  are  already  painfully  reminded  of  the  intolerant 
spirit  it  generates,  and  have  witnessed  it  during  the  past  in  the 


528  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

expulsion  of  many  of  our  dear  brethren  and  sisters  for  no  viola- 
tion of  the  gospel  or  moral  principle ;  and  but  yesterday  were 
humiliated  by  what  appears  to  us  an  act  ot  great  injustice;  and, 

"Whereas,  Our  annual  conference  is  almost  wholly  taken  up 
with  legislation  tending  to  abridge  our  liberties  in  the  gospel, 
enforcing  customs  and  usages  and  elevating  them  to  an  equality 
with  the  gospel,  and  defending  them  with  even  more  rigor  than 
the  commands  of  God ;  and, 

Whereas,  Through  a  conscientious  opposition  to  this  dan- 
gerous and  unjust  assumption  of  power  and  an  honorable  con- 
tention for  the  pure  Word  of  God  as  our  only  rule  of  faith  and 
practice  has  caused  us  to  be  styled  'troublers'  and  'railers ;'  and, 

"Whereas,  Our  avowed  sympathy  for  the  church  in  all  her 
gospel  principles  has  had  no  weight ;  our  explanations  have  been 
misrepresented ;  our  petitions  have  been  slighted ;  our  prayers 
have  been  unheeded  ;  and  all  our  efforts  at  reconciliation,  which 
were  honest  and  sincere,  were  frowned  upon  and  rejected  for 
most  trivial  reasons  ;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  we  continue  to  sympathize  with  and  fellow- 
ship all  brethren  and  sisters  who  have  been  expelled  without  a 
violation  of  the  gospel,  and  go  on  serving  our  Master  by  preaching 
the  gospel  and  only  the  gospel,  ever  opposing  every  tendency 
toward  religious  oppression  and  intolerance,  and  corrupting  of 
the  church  with  the  traditions  and  commandments  of  men. 

"Resolved,  That  with  Alexander  Mack,  we  reaffirm  the  doctrine 
of  the  gospel  being  our  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and  the 
doctrines  of  our  church  as  it  existed  in  its  earlier  and  purer  age, 
and  before  it  was  corrupted  by  the  additions  made  by  elders  and 
their  abuse  of  power. 

"Resolved,  That  we  recommend  a  convention  of  all  those 
favorable  to  restoring  the  church  to  its  primitive  purity,  at  which 
time  it  shall  be  decided  what  course  shall  be  pursued  for  the 
future." 

The  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted,  and  a  committee 
appointed  and  authorized  to  select  a  place  and  appoint  a  time,  and 
give  due  notice  of  the  convention  contemplated. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  529 

The  following  resolution  was  adopted :  "Resolved,  That  our 
motto  shall  be  the  Bible,  the  whole  Bible,  and  nothing  but  the 
Bible,"  and  all  who  are  in  harmony  with  this  sentiment  are  invited 
to  meet  in  convention. 

The  committee  on  conventions  reported  as  follows : — 

CALL  OF  A  CONVENTION. 

"In  pursuance  of  a  resolution  passed  at  schoolhouse  No.  7, 
Jackson  Township,  Elkhart  County,  Indiana,  June  1,  1882,  by 
progressive  brethren,  as  follows  : — 

"  'Resolved,  That  we  recommend  a  convention  of  all  those 
favorable  to  restoring  the  church  to  its  primitive  purity,  at  which 
time  it  shall  be  decided  what  course  shall  be  pursued  for  the  time ;' 

"We,  your  committee,  therefore  have  appointed  said  convention 
to  be  held  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  June  29,  1882. 

"It  was  further  decided  that  our  motto  shall  be  'The  Bible,  the 
whole  Bible,  and  nothing  but  the  Bible,'  and  all  who  are  in  har- 
mony with    this    sentiment    are    cordially  invited   to  be  present." 

FIRST     GENERAL     PROGRESSIVE     CONVENTION. 

Let  us  now  follow  the  progressive  brethren  to  their  first  con- 
vention in  the  college  building,  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  June  29-30, 
1882.  Elder  J.  W.  Beer  presided,  and  briefly  stated  the  object  of 
the  convention. 

Letters  were  read  from  a  number  of  persons  who  were  in  har- 
mony with  the  object  of  the  conference.  The  following  persons 
were  present,  representing  churches  or  parts  of  churches : — 

Elder  Andrew  A.  Cost,  Beaver  Creek,  Maryland ;  E.  S.  Miller, 
Manor  church,  Washington  Co.,  Maryland ;  J.  P.  Hetric,  Phila- 
delphia and  Covington  churches,  Pennsylvania ;  David  Ritten- 
house,  Silver  Creek  church,  Williams  County,  Ohio ;  J.  A. 
Ridenour,  L.  Miami,  Beaver  Creek,  and  L.  Twinn  churches,  Ohio  ; 
J.  W.  Fitzgerald,  Bear  Creek,  Ohio;  J.  G.  Synder  and  Dr.  S.  E. 
Furry,  Woodbury,  Pennsylvania;  A.  D.  Gnagey,  Meyersdale, 
Pennsylvania ;  J.  H.  Knepper  and  H.  R.  Holsinger,  Berlin, 
Pennsylvania ;    S.    A.    Moore,  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania ;    Henry 

34 


530  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Homan,  Black  River,  Ohio;  Stephen  Hildebrand  and  Elder 
William  Byers,  Conemaugh,  Pennsylvania ;  R.  Z.  Replogle,  J. 
Z.  Replogle,  and  S.  L.  Buck,  Yellow  Creek,  Pennsylvania ; 
C.  E.  Glenn  and  J.  L.  Freeland,  Cheat  River,  West  Vir- 
ginia; J.  B.  Wampler,  Cowenshanoc,  Glade  Run,  and  Brush  Val- 
ley churches,  Pennsylvania ;  J.  B.  Moser,  George's  Creek,  Penn- 
sylvania ;  Isaac  Leedy  and  A.  L.  Garber,  Ankneytown,  Ohio ; 
A.  J.  Sterling,  Ten  Mile,  Pennsylvania ;  D.  Swihart  and  John 
Zuck,  Roann,  Indiana ;  O.  White  and  J.  W.  Beer,  Fairview,  Ohio. 
The  following  was  then  adopted,  and  is  called — 

DECLARATION     OF     PRINCIPLES. 

"Declaration  of  Principles,  adopted  by  the  Progressive  Conven- 
tion, of  the  Tunker  Church,  held  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  June  29  and 
30,  A.  D.  1882. 

"When  bodies,  politic  or  religious,  depart  in  intent  or  practice 
from  the  original  purpose  and  principles  of  the  founders  of  the 
government  or  church,  and  institute  measures  and  policies  which 
destroy  the  inalienable  rights  of  the  people,  prohibit  the  exercise 
of  individual  opinions,  and  enact  laws  the  enforcement  of  which 
is  destructive  of  liberty  and  the  higher  interests  of  the  governed ; 
and  when  the  welfare  of  the  people  is  forgotten  in  the  wor- 
ship of  forms  and  instruments,  which  are  innovations  upon  the 
inherent  principles  of  the  law  of  nature  and  of  God  ;  and  when 
character  and  reputation  are  considered  matters  the  most  trivial, 
are  poisoned,  polluted,  and  angered,  without  any  possible  show 
of  just  redress  or  the  punishment  of  villifiers  ;  when  men  are  con- 
demned without  notice  or  trial ;  and  when  human  charity  and  sym- 
pathy are  trampled  underfoot  by  those  in  authority,  and  the  preju- 
dices and  jealousies  of  men  rule  in  the  domain  of  thought;  when 
wisdom  and  discretion  are  dethroned,  it  becomes  the  imperative 
duty  of  the  oppressed  and  misused  to  declare  against  such  misrule 
and  tyranny  and  in  favor  of  good  government  and  the  exercise  of 
individual  and  religious  rights,  the  abolishment  of  all  traditionary 
and  unlawful  measures,  and  a  full  return  to  the  original  spirit, 
intent,    and    application    of   the   established    law,    which    in    this 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  531 

instance  is  the  gospel.  When  continual  efforts  have  failed  to  cor- 
rect abuses,  inaugurate  general  reformatory  measures,  and  all 
systemized  efforts,  coupled  with  warnings,  pleadings,  and  prayers, 
have  been  repulsed,  and  still  more  radical  and  unlawful  systems 
adopted  for  the  oppression  of  the  people  and  the  protection  of 
illegitimate  enactments  and  cruel  rulers,  it  then  becomes  their 
unavoidable  obligation  to  the  law  of  God  and  the  rights  and  wel- 
fare of  man,  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  bondage,  step  out  of  the 
shadows  of  usurpation,  upon  the  original  platform  of  universal 
right,  liberty,  and  truth,  and  declare  their  independence  from  all 
innovations  or  additions  to  the  constitution  of  the  law  by  which 
they  are  governed. 

"When  such  final  action  is  required,  justice  to  themselves  and 
'a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they 
should  declare  the  causes  which  compel  them'  to  the  declaration. 

"We  hold  that  in  religion  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  the  gospel 
alone,  is  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  that  he  who  adds 
to  the  gospel,  takes  from  it,  or  in  any  way  binds  upon  men  any- 
thing different  from  the  gospel,  is  an  infidel  to  the  Author  of 
Christianity  and  a  usurper  of  gospel  rights. 

"That  the  gospel  recognizes  the  liberty  of  men  and  the  church 
to  stablish  expediences,  instruments,  and  immunities,  by  which 
the  education  and  spiritualization  of  the  race  may  be  successfully 
achieved  in  different  generations  and  under  various  circumstances  ; 
but  prohibits  the  elevation  of  these  instruments  or  expediences  to 
an  equal  plane  of  authority,  with  positive  divine  enactments,  the 
penalty  attached  to  the  transgression  of  which  is  to  be  social 
ostracism  or  severance  of  church  relation. 

"That  the  only  condition  of  approved  membership  in  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  is  obedience  to  the  precepts  of  the  gospel  upon  the 
basis  of  a  good  moral  character. 

"That  no  man  should  be  condemned  or  his  liberties  destroyed 
for  any  cause  whatever  without  a  fair  and  impartial  trial  upon  the 
charges  or  complaints  brought  against  him. 

"That  upon  all  questions  of  church  government,  the  doctrines 
and  commandments  of  men  are  paralyzing  to  the  life  and  interests 


532  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

of  the  church.  That  in  doctrine  the  church  of  Christ  should 
universally  harmonize,  but  on  questions  of  government  and  cus- 
toms may  be  congregational. 

"That  every  possible  means  for  the  conversion  of  souls  should 
be  put  forth  at  all  times  and  under  every  circumstance. 

"The  history  of  the  German  Baptist  Church  leaders  and  con- 
ference, for  years  past,  has  been  a  history  of  continued  departures 
from  the  primitive  simplicity  of  the  Christian  faith  in  almost  every 
essential  feature  of  gospel  liberty  and  church  rule.  That  this 
may  appear,  let  the  following  facts  be  investigated  and  carefully 
considered. 

"When  committee  men  have  been  objected  to  for  lawful  rea- 
sons, by  persons  on  trial,  the  objections  have  been  thrown  aside 
by  the  committee,  ancl  the  associate  objected  to  allowed  to  serve, 
and  such  action  subsequently  ratified  by  conference. 

"They  have  denied  the  administration  of  the  ordinance  of 
Christian  baptism  to  penitent  believers  for  reasons  foreign  to  the 
teachings  of  the  gospel,  and  in  opposition  to  the  express  declara- 
tions of  Christ.  In  disobedience  to  the  teachings  of  the  gospel 
they  have  made  'outward  adornment  and  the  wearing  of  apparel' 
a  condition  of  full  church  relation. 

"Women  of  the  best  standing  in  society  and  noble  Christian 
character,  have  been  ruthlessly  expelled  from  the  church  for 
wearing  a  style  of  head-dress  other  than  the  bonnet  and  cap  pre- 
scribed by  church  legislation. 

"Ministers  and  others  have  been  refused  a  hearing  in  annual, 
district,  and  local  church  conferences,  and,  in  many  instances, 
entirely  ignored  and  forbidden  communion  privileges  for  wear- 
ing a  different  cut  of  clothing  and  hair  than  that  prescribed  by 
conference  and  church  usage. 

"The  shape  of  particular  garments,  such  as  the  head-dress  and 
coat,  have  in  various  instances  been  legislated  upon  by  annual 
conference  and  made  conditions  of  church  relation  by  supporters 
of  conference  rule. 

"Brethren  of  good  standing  in  their  home  congregations  have, 
by  private  caucusing  of  jealous  elders  and  ministers,  without  the 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  533 

knowledge  or  consent  of  the  laity,  been  excluded  from  communion 
privileges,  and  these  tyrannical  and  unchristian  acts  passed  with- 
out notice  or  rebuke  by  conference. 

"Ministers  and  papers  loyal'  to  annual  meeting  have  slandered, 
abused,  and  misrepresented  brethren  of  progressive  views,  so  far 
as  to  attack  character  and  defame  reputation,  when  no  possible 
opportunity  of  redress  could  be  had,  and  these  actions  passed 
unrebuked  by  conference. 

"Progressive  brethren  have  petitioned  for  amicable  adjustment 
of  all  difficulties,  privately,  publicly,  and  through  conference,  but 
these  petitions  have  gone  unheeded  or  were  answered  by  sus- 
pension and  expulsion. 

"Practices  have  been  admitted  by  members  of  conference  in 
their  home  congregations,  for  which  in  other  congregations  they 
have  expelled  members  of  good  character  from  the  church. 

"Ministers  of  good  moral  character  have  been  suspended  from 
the  ministry  or  excluded  from  the  church,  without  so  much  as  a 
trial,  against  the  almost  unanimous  vote,  or  without  the.  knowl- 
edge of  their  home  congregations,  without  gospel  authority,  for 
no  other  reason  than  pleading  for  union,  opposing  official  cor- 
ruption, and  defending  the  perfection  of  the  gospel  as  a  rule  of 
faith  and  practice. 

"The  rights  of  individual  congregations  have  been  trampled 
upon,  their  peace  destroyed,  and  their  final  prosperity  blighted  by 
immoderate  and  unreasonable  decisions  of  committees  sent  by 
conference. 

"They  have,  contrary  to  the  usages  of  the  civilized  world  and 
the  church  in  all  ages,  condemned  individuals  without  the  sem- 
blance of  a  trial. 

"They  have  made  the  decisions  of  annual  conference  equal  in 
authority  to  the  Word  of  God,  by  declaring  them  mandatory. 

'They  preach  for  doctrines,  the  commandments  of  men,  and 
make  them  tests  of  Christian  fellowship,  and  neglect  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith. 

"They  have  instituted  mock  trials  to  save  men  favorable  to  the 
tradition  of  the  church,  and  give  a  show  of  fair  dealing  in  the  eyes 
of  the  uninformed  and  ignorant. 


534  HISTORY    OF    THE    TINKERS. 

"Bishops,  who  have  through  dishonorable  dealings  for  lord- 
ing it  over  God's  heritage,  lost  the  respect  and  sympathy  of  their 
churches  and  communities,  have  been  sent  again  and  again  on  com- 
mittees to  settle  important  church  matters  away  from  home,  and 
are  to-day  occupying  high  places  at  annual  conference. 

"They  have  made  bishops  separate  and  superior  to  the  body  and 
authority  of  the  church,  whereas  the  gospel  declares  them  servants 
of  the  church. 

"Throughout  all  these  abuses  and  oppressions,  the  portion  of  the 
church  known  as  Progressives  have,  in  various  ways,  petitioned 
for  justice,  and  a  return  to  the  primitive  purity  and  simplicity  of 
gospel  church  rule;  nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  the  spirit  of 
fraternal  feeling  and  Christian  charity,  which  dictates  forgiveness 
for  injuries  suffered  and  pleads  forgiveness  for  offenses  com- 
mitted. We  have  used  every  means  available  to  restore  the  church 
to  its  original  position  of  'the  gospel,  the  whole  gospel,  and  noth- 
ing but  the  gospel,'  and  having  not  only  failed,  but  witnessed  the 
farther  departure  of  conference  from  this  position  by  the  man- 
datory act,  we  are  now  compelled  to  disavow  equal  and  all 
responsibility  in  these  departures  and  traditions,  and  submit  to 
the  necessity  which  demands  declarations  to  the  adherence  of  the 
gospel  alone  in  faith  and  practice,  upon  the  platform  occu- 
pied by  the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  and  our  church  fathers, 
independent  of  the  abuses,  traditions,  and  commandments  of 
the  annual  conference  of  the  German  Baptist  Church.  We 
regret  the  necessity  which  compels  it,  but  duty  to  the  world, 
ourselves,  our  children,  and  to  Almighty  God,  the  Ruler  of 
the  universe,  demands  it :  and  that  His  name  may  be  glorified, 
His  cause  advanced,  and  the  usurpations  of  men  denounced  and 
opposed,  we  meekly  bow  to  the  dictations  of  justice,  purity,  and 
truth. 

"We  therefore  reaffirm  the  primitive  doctrines  of  the  church, 
and  disavow  allegiance  to  all  such  derogatory  and  subversive 
ecclesiastical  mandates,  and  declare  our  intention  to  administer 
the  government  of  the  church  as  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  and 
our  faithful  brotherhood. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  535 

"We  thus  renounce  mandatory  legislation,  creeds,  and  every- 
thing that  may  be  construed  to  holding  anything  as  essential  to 
salvation,  except  the  gospel  of  Christ  (Rom.  i  :  16),  and  thus 
declare  ourselves  as  being  the  only  true  conservators  and  per- 
petuators  ot  the  brotherhood  and  its  original  doctrines  and  prin- 
ciples, and  are.  therefore,  the  original  and  true  church. 

"We  also  express  our  sincere  regret  and  sorrow  for  the  apos- 
tasy of  our  brethren  in  leaving  the  time-honored  principles  of  the 
church  by  making  additions  to  the  gospel  through  mandatory 
legislation  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  we  pray  God  to 
help  them  to  see  their  error  and  return  to  the  gospel  of  Christ — the 
platform  of  the  brotherhood — from  which  they  have  departed  by 
improper  legislation ;  and  until  they  return  we  will  not  regard 
any  expulsions  or  suspensions  which  they  may  make,  but  wTill 
continue  to  fellowship  all  who  have  been  or  may  hereafter  be 
expelled  without  gospel  authority  or  a  just  trial. 

"We  will  continue  to  hold  district  and  general  conferences  when 
necessity  or  circumstances  demand  and  then  only. 

"The  members  in  all  our  churches  who  accept  the  gospel  of 
Christ  as  the  only  law  in  religion,  shall  be  entitled  to  representa- 
tion in  our  conferences,  whenever  held.  And  that  this  purpose 
may  be  effectually  executed,  we  decide  that  a  committee  of  five 
shall' be  appointed  by  this  convention,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
arrange  for  the  holding  of  such  meetings  and  for  the  setting  in 
order  of  churches  which  may  be  left  in  a  disordered  condition  by 
the  late  apostasy. 

"In  conclusion,  we  pray  the  blessings  of  God  upon  our  efforts 
to  adhere  to  and  retain  inviolate  the  original  church  government 
and  doctrine  of  our  fathers,  and  the  church  we  so  devoutly  love." 

A  number  of  addresses  were  delivered,  pertinent  remarks  made, 
and  important  resolutions  passed,  all  of  which  I  am  compelled  to 
omit  for  want  of  space.  If  possible,  I  will  publish  in  the  appendix 
the  able  address  delivered  by  Elder  P.  J.  Brown,  and  several 
others. 

Among  the  most  important  transactions  of  the  convention  was 
the  passing  of  the  following  resolution :  — 


536  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  convention  that,  as  we 
are  the  true  conservators  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Brethren  Church, 
and  have  never  strayed  from  the  church  founded  by  our  fathers, 
nothing  done  in  this  meeting  shall  be  construed  as  secession  or 
departure  from  the  original  church  organized  in  Germany,  in 
1708,  or  from  the  principles  of  the  gospel  as  interpreted  by  our 
fathers,  until  the  intervention  of  human  traditions  and  the  usurpa- 
tion of  authority  by  men  in  control  of  annual  meeting.  In  every 
principle  of  non-conformity  to  the  world  and  the  practice  of  the 
gospel  ordinances,  we  stand  where  we  always  have  stood,  and 
by  the  grace  of  God  always  will  .stand." 

It  was  agreed  to  hold  general  conferences  "when  necessity  or 
circumstances  demand,  and  then  only:' 

An  effort  was  made  to  consolidate  with  kindred  denominations, 
and  a  committee  appointed  to  confer  with  similar  committees, 
and  recommended  to  make  a  special  effort  to  effect  a  union  with 
the  people  known  as  Congregational  Brethren,  Leedy  Brethren, 
River  Brethren,  Conservative  Brethren,  and  Shoemaker  Brethren. 

The  committee  offered  a  partial  report  to  the  convention,  which 
is  as  follows  : — 

"Your  committee  of  conference  have  held  council  with  similar 
committees  of  the  Congregational  Brethren  and  the  Leedy  Breth- 
ren, and  while  we  find  nothing  between  us  to  keep  up  separate 
communions,  we,  nevertheless,  recommend  to  defer  further  action 
until  the  several  churches  represented  by  each  may  be  more 
carefully  consulted." 

A  committee  of  reconstruction  was  also  appointed,  whose  work- 
was  defined  to  be  to  organize  or  reconstruct  churches,  wherever 
it  may  be  necessary,  and  attend  to  other  general  work  pertaining 
to  the  brotherhood.  The  following  brethren  were  placed  on  the 
committee:  J.  W.  Beer,  A.  J.  Hixson,  E.  L.  Yoder,  J.  B. 
Wampler,  and  J.  H.  Worst. 

The  conference  was  very  harmonious  throughout  all  its  delib- 
erations, and  a  fraternal  feeling  was  manifest  in  the  discussions. 
With  a  remarkable  hope,  which  might  be  called  hoping  against 
hope,  the  convention  declined    to  make    an  advance    step  in    the 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  537 

direction  of  perfecting  an  organization,  clinging  with  childlike 
tenacity  to  the  idea  of  maintaining  a  union  with  the  general 
brotherhood.  With  that  hope  before  them,  a  committee  was 
appointed  with  the  authority  to  call  another  convention  when  the 
exigencies  of  the  fraternity  seemed  to  demand  it. 

And  so  the  first  convention  adjourned  sine  die. 

That  the  progressive  brethren  did  not  wish  to  organize  a  new 
denomination  can  be  proven  beyond  all  doubt.  First,  by  their 
action  at  the  meeting  in  schoolhouse  No.  7,  where  a  committee 
was  appointed  appealing  to  the  standing  committee.  Second,  the 
Ashland  convention  declared  that  nothing  that  was  said  or  done 
by  the  convention  should  be  construed  as  an  act  of  secession,  or 
separate  organization,  and  carefully  guarded  against  taking  any 
steps  which  might  stand  in  the  way  of  reconciliation  with  the 
main  body.  As  the  third  argument,  I  offer  the  following  extract 
from  an  editorial  in  the  Progressive  Christian,  entitled  "Why  the 
Convention  Should  Be  Held  after  the  Annual  Meeting" : — 

"Some  of  our  readers  have  expressed  their  preference  for  a 
convention  to  be  held  previous  to  the  conference  at  Bismarck 
Grove,  next  May.  The  great  majority  of  our  readers,  however, 
prefer  some  suitable  time  soon  after  the  annual  meeting.  And 
with  a  view  of  reconciling  all  who  are  interested  we  are  writing 
this  article. 

"The  spirit  and  design  of  our  work  is  not  to  divide  the  church, 
but  to  reform  and  correct  her  errors.  We  have  been  pointing 
out  the  mistakes  of  annual  meeting,  and  admonishing  her  to  cor- 
rect her  errors,  and  now  we  must  give  her  an  opportunity  to  do  so. 
This  she  has  not  had  since  last  Whitsuntide.  It  is  known  that 
many  annual-meeting  advocates  are  heartily  sick  of  the  mandatory 
clause,  and  some  have  promised  to  do  all  they  can  to  have  it 
repealed.  They  must  have  an  opportunity  to  do  so.  Others  say 
they  will  have  the  Berlin  committee  business  reconsidered,  and 
the  decisions  of  expelling  committees  rescinded,  and  that  a  gen- 
eral jubilee  will  be  proclaimed.  This  would  be  a  grand  and 
glorious  work,  and  we  should  not  only  be  willing  to  afford  our 
brethren  an  opportunity  of  doing  it,  but  should  also  render  them 


538  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

all  needed  assistance.  We  should  have  a  hand  in  every  good 
work.  It  is  the  desire  of  the  progressive  portion  of  the  church 
to  prevent  a  split  in  the  body,  if  possible.  All  our  convention 
work  and  church  business  has  been  so  shaped  as  not  to  encourage 
or  recognize  a  schism,  and  we  'shall  fight  it  out  on  that  line'  until 
after  the  Bismarck  conference,  next  May. 

"We  are  aware  that  there  is  not  much  hope  that  annual  meet- 
ing will  do  anything  in  the  right  direction,  but  still  we  must  give 
her  a  chance,  and  let  the  responsibility  of  a  division,  if  it  must 
come,  rest  upon  the  annual  meeting.  We  want  to  keep  our 
skirts  clear  of  any  guilt  in  the  matter.  We  have  been  falsely 
accused  and  cruelly  abused,  but  we  have  a  clear  conscience,  and 
we  want  to  preserve  it  void  of  offense.  We  have  not  yet  lost 
all  hope  of  reclaiming  annual  meeting.  All  things  are  possible 
with  God.  The  children  of  Israel  had  gone  very  far  out  of  the 
right  way,  and  yet  were  induced  to  repent.  We  know  we  are 
apparently  losing  important  time,  but  the  Lord  may  be  doing  a 
greater  work  for  us  than  we  could  have  done  for  ourselves. 

"And  while  we  are  upon  the  subject,  we  feel  like  appealing  to 
the  reasonable  and  earnest  portion  of  the  conservatives,  to  unite 
all  their  powers  and  influences  in  favor  of  harmony,  and  to 
prevent  a  general  division,  which  is  inevitable  unless  some  com- 
promise can  be  effected  at  our  next  conference.  If  conference 
will  not  retract  her  extreme  and  unreasonable  measures,  and  heal 
the  wounds  made  by  her  unjust  and  unmerciful  rulings,  at  her 
next  assembly,  then  the  sentiment  of  the  progressive  portion  of 
the  church  will  be  unanimously  in  favor  of  forming  an  associa- 
tion of  all  progressive  churches,  and  ignoring  all  conservative 
organization.  Then  a  general  and  vigorous  work  of  proselytizing 
will  take  place,  the  result  of  which  is  known  to  the  Lord  alone. 
Progressives  have  been  tantalized  and  derided  because  of  their 
small  number  and  apparent  lack  of  success,  and  prophecies  are 
set  forth  that  the  few  progressive  churches  now  organized  will 
soon  be  disbanded,  and  the  leaders  will  retract  and  return  to  con- 
servatism. Such  taunts  are  very  hard  to  bear  by  sensitive  per- 
sons, and  are  enjoyed  by  very  few.     They  are  all  the  more  pro- 


BRETHREN    CHURCH HISTORICAL.  539 

voking  because  they  are  so  uncalled  for  and  unreasonable. 
Progressives  have  not  yet  made  any  effort  to  succeed  as  a  sep- 
arate denomination.  They  have  insisted  upon  belonging  to  and 
working  with  the  general  body  of  the  Tunker  fraternity.  They 
still  desire  to  do  so,  and  we  now  offer  our  last  appeal  to  the 
conservative  portion  of  that  body  not  to  disrupt  the  bonds  that 
have  held  us  together,  but  to  join  us  in  reasoning,  and  arbitration, 
and  help  us  to  adjust  all  our  difficulties  upon  gospel  principles 
and  gospel  terms.  We  believe  our  people  will  be  reasonable,  and 
ready  to  accept  the  olive  branch  if  held  out  to  them  by  brotherly 
hands.  It  is,  therefore,  important  that  no  convention  should  be 
held  until  after  next  conference,  or  that  anything  should  be  done 
by  progressives  before  its  next  session  that  would  hinder  a  suc- 
cessful adjustment  of  the  differences  between  us.  If  nothing  will 
be  done  by  annual  meeting,  then  we  shall  be  clear  from  any  blame 
for  the  results  that  may  follow,  and  we  shall  have  the  sympathies 
of  all  fair-minded  persons  in  and  out  of  the  church,  and  the 
cooperation  of  that  portion  of  our  conservative  brethren  who 
labored  with  us  for  reconciliation.  They  will  then  be  ready  to 
join  in  with  us  in  convention  on  the  gospel-alone  platform.  If 
the  worst  must  come,  we  shall  be  all  the  better  prepared  for  it 
when  it  does  come.  As  for  ourselves,  we  did  all  we  could  do  on 
the  first  day  of  the  Arnold's  Grove  conference ;  our  colleagues  did 
all  they  could  do  on  the  third  day  of  the  same  council ;  and  now, 
when  our  conservative  brethren  have  done  all  they  can  do  at  Bis- 
marck, then  nothing  further  can  be  thought  of  in  the  way  of  recon- 
ciliation ;  and  we  shall  raise  the  banner :  'All  power  is  given  unto 
Me  in  heaven  and  upon  earth  ;  go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all 
nations,'  etc. 

"And  when  we  are  thus  equipped,  having  organized  our  forces, 
systematized  our  work,  properly  distributed  our  labors,  and  put  in 
a  year  of  solid,  earnest,  aggressive,  fearless  labor  for  God  and  His 
cause  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  then  if  progression  is  a  failure, 
there  will  be  time  to  talk  about  it." 


540  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

THE    DAYTON     CONVENTION. 

The  Dayton  convention  was  one  of  the  most  satisfactory  confer- 
ences in  which  I  ever  took  any  part.  Our  people  had  been  thor- 
oughly humiliated,  and  were  ready  to  be  led  upward.  There  might 
have  been  a  larger  attendance  a  year  before,  if  the  same  effort  had 
been  made  in  the  way  of  advertising  ;  yet  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
same  harmony  of  sentiment  would  have  prevailed. 

It  has  been  repeatedly  and  truthfully  stated  by  members  of  the 
several  divisions  that  the  reconstructions  were  not  always  made 
upon  principle.  Preference,  prejudice,  and  sentiment  entered 
largely  into  the  cause  of  the  choice  of  the  church  home.  It  is  dif- 
ficult to  eliminate  such  feeling  from  church  work  of  any  kind.  I 
know  of  persons  who  were  said  to  have  joined  the  church  because 
of  a  certain  popular  evangelist,  and  after  the  departure  of  the 
preacher  the  convert  lost  all  interest  in  the  church  and  Christian- 
ity. And  persons  who  had  for  a  long  time  been  under  the  min- 
istry of  a  certain  pastor  would  be  still  more  likely  to  be  influenced 
by  personal  preference,  in  case  of  a  division  in  the  congregation. 
There  are  yet  other  considerations  which  entered  into  the  local 
and  general  division  of  the  brotherhood.  It  is  a  well-established 
fact  that  progressives  never  attempted  to  divide  a  congregation, 
either  before  or  after  the  action  of  the  Berlin  committee.  They 
never  went  into  a  congregation  with  a  view  of  organizing  a 
church,  but  always  waited  until  they  were  sent  for.  When  the 
expelling  committees  entered  a  congregation  of  German  Baptists, 
and  caused  a  division,  then  the  expelled  members,  who  were,  as 
a  rule,  as  good  as  any  in  the  church,  and  frequently  the  more 
intelligent  portion,  would  send  for  an  elder  of  the  progressive 
order  to  organize  them  into  a  class. 

Some  brethren  have  claimed  credit  for  endeavoring  to  prevent 
a  division  of  a  congregation  after  the  organization  of  the  Brethren 
Church.  I  can  not  see  much  virtue  in  such  action.  The  time  to 
have  prevented  a  division  was  at  the  Arnold's  Grove  conference. 
Then  it  might  have  been  done.  It  is  a  comfort  to  know  that 
myself  and  my  friends,  without  a  single  exception,  did  all  that 
was  in  our  power  to  prevent  a  division. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  54-1 

The  Dayton  convention  met  on  the  morning  of  June  6,  in 
Music  Hall.  A  short  time  was  spent  in  song  and  prayer  service, 
when  the  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer,  led  by  Elder  P.  J. 
Brown,  of  Ohio.  H.  R.  Holsinger  was  elected  moderator,  and 
W.  L.  Spanogle  assistant. 

The  committees  on  kindred  fraternities,  appointed  by  the 
Ashland  convention,  reported  the  following: — 

"Your  committee  report  that  as  far  as  we  have  been  able  to 
learn,  there  is  no  essential  difference  in  faith  or  doctrine  between 
Progressive,  Congregational,  and  Leedy  Churches ;  and  we 
recommend  that  hereafter  we  be  known  as  one  body,  and  labor 
together  in  peace  and  union. 

"Greeting  :  Your  committee  appointed  at  said  convention  on 
the  part  of  the  Congregational  Brethren,  to  acquiesce  in  bringing 
about  a  consolidation  of  the  Progressive  and  Congregational 
Brethren,  feel  that  such  union  is  effected. 

"Our  Saviour  says,  'For  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  My 
Father  which  is  in  heaven,  the  same  is  My  brother,  and  sister, 
and  mother.'  Matt.  12 :  50.  Again,  'But  be  not  ye  called  Rabbi ; 
for  one  is  your  Master,  even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren.' 
Matt.  23 : 8. 

"F.  A.  Hendricks, 
"W.  G.  McClintock, 

"J.    H.    SWIHART, 

"Committee." 
Thereupon  the  following  resolution  was  adopted : — 
"Resolved,  That  the  brethren  heretofore  known  as  Progressive, 
those  known  as  Congregational,  and  those  known  as  Leedy 
Brethren  are  all  one  body  in  Christ,  and  that  all  sectarian  titles 
that  theretofore  existed  shall  be  forever  dropped,  and  we  will 
hereafter  be  known  and  know  each  other  by  the  gospel  name 
Brethren." 

The  following  delegates  responded  to  the  roll-call : — 
J.  H.  Swihart,  Rome  City;  H.  Tombaugh,  Bourbon;  G.   W. 
Shippe,  Laporte;    George    Neff,  Indian    Creek;    P.  L.  Gordon, 
Howard's    Bachelor's  Run;   Francis   Drake,   Four  Mile;   D.   S. 


542  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Cripe,  Osceola  church,  Lapaz,  Linkville ;  Jacob  Holsinger,  Upper 
Fall  Creek ;  S.  H.  Replogle,  Nettle  Creek ;  Eli  Hardman,  E.  Brum- 
baugh, Paint  Creek,  Ohio ;  H.  G.  Ullery,  Covington,  Ohio ;  Daniel 
Hines,  Antioch ;  A.  Switzer  and  P.  A.  Early,  Sugar  Creek ;  J.  R. 
Switzer,  North  Manchester;  S.  E.  Ullery,  South  Bend. 

The  following-named  delegates  reported  : — 

Walter  Clark  and  J.  G.  Gould,  Newton  Grove;  George  Neff, 
Berrien  congregation. 

The  Chairman :  "The  enrolment  of  delegates  from  Illinois  is 
now  in  order." 

The  following-named  persons  reported  : — 

J.ohn  Buechly  and  J.  H.  Swihart,  Auburn ;  Joseph  Livengood, 
Henry  Myers,  and  E.  F.  Fike,  Milledgeville ;  W.  H.  Harrington, 
Lanark ;  E.  C.  Livingood,  Milledgeville. 

The  following-named  delegates  from  Iowa  then  reported : — 

South  Waterloo  church,  by  letter ;  Brooklyn,  by  letter,  inclosing 
one  dollar ;  Clayton,  by  letter. 

The  following  churches  from  Kansas  then  reported : — 

W.  J.  H.  Bauman,  Pony  Creek,  Kansas,  and  Falls  City, 
Nebraska ;  South  Haven,  Sumner  County,  Kansas ;  Brown 
church,  by  letter. 

The  following  reported  from  Nebraska : — 

Jos.  H.  Myers,  Falls  City. 

From  Missouri : — 

Mound  church,  Page  County,  W.  J.  H.  Bauman,  letter;  T.  E. 
Davis,  Lexington  church ;  P.  J.  Brown  and  H.  S.  Jacobs,  Mohican 
church ;  H.  R.  Holsinger,  Ashland ;  J.  A.  Ridenour  and  John 
Murry,  Lower  Miami ;  J.  W.  Fitzgerald  and  J.  P.  Martin,  Bear 
Creek ;  J.  W.  Beer  and  M.  F.  White,  Fairview  ;  Henry  Duncan 
and  Henry  Miller,  Beaver  Creek ;  E.  Horn,  Fulton  County ;  C.  M. 
Rittenhouse,  Silver  Creek ;  Elias  Teeter,  Pleasant  Hill ;  E.  Hoffert 
and  J.  H.  Worst,  Rush  Creek;  D.  R.  Wampler  and  C.  A.  Coler, 
Lower  Twin  ;  Henry  Homan,  Black  River  church  ;  A.  Hoover, 
Jonathan's  Creek ;  Jacob  Hazen,  Rome ;  S.  Kiehl,  Dayton ;  Isaac 
Grubb,  Owl  Creek ;  E.  L.  Yoder,  Chippewa ;  Jacob  Ross  and  Isaac 
Ross,  Danville. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH HISTORICAL.  543 

There  were  also  a  number  of  letters  read  to  the  conference. 
Some  of  these  epistles  are  quite  interesting,  but  I  am  compelled  to 
omit  them  from  this  work  for  lack  of  space. 

The  committee  on  duties,  qualifications,  and  support  of  the  min- 
istry, reported  the  following,  which  was  adopted : — 

"Your  committee  on  duties,  qualifications,  and  support  of  the 
ministry,  would  recommend  the  following  to  your  consideration, 
to  wit : — 

"First.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  minister  to  study  to  show  himself 
approved  unto  God,  etc.,  according  to  2  Tim.  r:  15. 

"Second.     He  must  preach  the  Word.     2  Tim.  4 :  2. 

"Third.  His  field  of  labor  is  the  world,  according  to  the 
Saviour's  teaching.     Matt.  28 :  19,  20. 

"Fourth.  The  qualifications  of  the  ministry  are  set  forth  by 
Paul  in  1  Tim.  3:  1-11. 

"Fifth.  And  we  recognize  it  to  be  a  congregational  duty,  when 
possible,  to  support  with  sufficient  liberality  the  minister  who 
may  serve  them  in  word  and  doctrine,  so  he  may  be  able  to 
give  himself  wholly  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  See  Acts  6:4; 
also  1  Cor.  9:  1-14.  W.  J.  H.  Bauman." 

The  committee  on  resolutions  reported  the  following,  which  was 
also  adopted : — 

''Resolved,  That  this  convention  expresses  its  sincere  regret 
and  sorrow  for  the  troubles  in  our  once  beloved  and  united 
brotherhood,  and  for  the  necessity  for  the  steps  taken  at  this  con- 
vention, and  shall  hope  and  pray  God  that  the  time  may  come 
when  all  our  brethren  shall  unite  with  us  again  upon  the  Bible. 

"Resolved,  That  we  have  special  cause  to  be  thankful  for  the 
future  outlook  of  the  church,  as  reflected  by  the  work  of  this 
convention;  the  unanimity  of  sentiment,  as  expressed  by  the 
delegates  and  members  of  the  convention  in  the  discussion  of  all 
questions ;  the  high  character  of  the  work  performed ;  the  words 
of  cheer  coming  to  us  from  all  parts  of  the  country  ;  the  expression 
of  good-will  upon  the  part  of  all  our  brethren  of  other  denomina- 
tions ;  and  the  general  encouragement  tendered  from  all  sources, 
makes  us  especially  grateful  to  an  all-wise  Providence,  and  creates 


544  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

in  us  a  desire,  in  returning  to  our  homes,  to  increase  our  diligence 
in  the  propagation  of  the  truths  of  the  gospel  and  furthering  the 
advancement,  happiness,  and  welfare  of  our  fellow-men." 

After  the  Dayton  convention  the  Brethren  Church  was  regarded 
as  a  fixed  institution,  and  charters  were  obtained  in  all  the  states 
where  congregations  existed.  I  will  publish  those  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  California  in  this  work,  and  the  congregational  charter 
of  the  Philadelphia  church  will  be  found  in  connection  with  the 
history  of  that  congregation. 

New  animation  was  manifested  in  all  the  organized  churches, 
and  new  congregations  were  organized  in  all  parts  of  the  brother- 
hood. The  publishing  house  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  partook  of  the 
inspiration,  and  tracts  and  Sunday-school  literature  were  pub- 
lished. The  name  of  the  Progressive  Christian  was  changed  to 
that  of  the  Brethren  Evangelist,  so  as  to  indicate  the  people  for 
whom  it  was  published.  A  gigantic  effort  was  put  forth  to  place 
Ashland  College  upon  a  solid  financial  footing.  This,  however, 
proved  too  much  of  an  undertaking  for  the  young  denomination. 
It  was  discovered  that  the  indebtedness  of  the  institution,  which 
had  been  represented  to  be  about  fourteen  thousand  dollars,  was 
over  thirty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  the  interest  accumulating 
at  the  rate  of  six  and  eight  per  cent  per  annum.  In  addition  to 
this,  many  of  the  donations  which  had  been  made  before  the  divi- 
sion were  refused  payment.  The  pressure  which  arose  from  their 
inability  to  meet  the  demand  of  their  creditors,  militated  against 
their  cause  in  church  work  as  well  as  educational  enterprises. 

Another  obstacle  which  confronted  the  progress  of  the  Breth- 
ren Church  immediately  after  its  organization,  was  a  change  of 
operations  on  the  part  of  the  German  Baptists.  They  at  once 
ceased  the  wholesale  expulsion  of  progressive  members,  as  if  by 
concert  of  action.  Had  they  continued  the  course  pursued  dur- 
ing the  years  of  1882-83,  there  would  now  be  several  hundred 
more  Brethren  Churches  in  the  United  States.  The  progressives 
did  not  preach  in  a  German  Baptist  community  where  all  was 
harmony.  Consequently  the  progressive  members  were  retained 
in  the  church.     There  was,  therefore,  no  nucleus  for  a  Brethren 


BRETHREN    CHURCH HISTORICAL.  545 

organization.  It  became  evident  to  the  leaders  that  if  the 
denomination  would  prosper  she  must  look  to  other  sources  for 
accessions,  and  make  use  of  other  means  than  that  of  proselytizing. 
It  also  opened  their  eyes  more  widely  to  the  fact  that  the  Lord 
had  other  people  to  whom  the  gospel  must  be  preached,  and  they 
at  once  set  about  to  send  forth  evangelists  to  the  extent  of  their 
ability.  Success  followed  the  effort,  and  the  Lord  added  daily 
such  as  were  willing  to  accept  the  Word  preached.  The  poorer 
class  of  the  membership  almost  invariably  fell  to  the  lot  of  the 
progressives.  Whether  this  was  or  was  not  to  their  credit,  it  was 
a  source  of  financial  weakness  to  the  body. 

State  and  district  conferences  were  organized  in  rapid  suc- 
cession in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Indiana ;  then  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia, and  Wrest  Virginia  in  one  district.  Illinois,  Iowa,  and 
Dakota  formed  a  district,  and  was  christened  Illiokota.  Then 
came  Missouri,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Colorado,  which  was 
named  Kanemorado. 

The  second  general  conference  of  the  Brethren  Church  was 
held  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  September  21-23,  1887.  H.  R.  Holsinger 
was  chairman,  and  J.  H.  Knepper,  vice-chairman.  At  this  con- 
vention it  was  defined  that  the  apostolic  idea  of  congregational 
church  government  relates  alone  to  the  incidental  affairs  of  the 
congregation,  and  not  to  doctrinal  practices,  which  must  be 
universal. 

It  was  also  recommended  that  each  state  should  organize  a 
mission  board  to  report  to  the  general  mission  board  once  each 
year.  The  Sisters'  Society  was  organized  at  this  convention. 
The  object  of  the  society  was  stated  to  be  the  defraying  of 
expenses  of  an  evangelist.  A  board  of  officers  was  appointed, 
composed  of  the  following  sisters :  Mary  M.  Sterling,  president ; 
Bessie  Perry,  secretary;  Sarah  Keim,  treasurer;  and  Mary  E. 
Garber,  corresponding  secretary. 

In  the  same  connection  it  was  decided  that  this  conference 
extend  to  the  sisters  all  privileges  which  the  brethren  claim  for 
themselves. 

It  was  decided  that  national    conventions  shall    be  held    once 

35 


546  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

every  five  years  unless  a  majority  of  state  conferences  would 
request  that  an  intermediate  convention  should  be  called. 

The  next  general  conference  was  held  at  Warsaw,  Indiana, 
August  23-27,  1892.     J.  M.  Tombaugh,  moderator. 

The  following  business  was  transacted  at  this  meeting: — 

The  Brethren  Evangelist  and  publishing  house  was  purchased 
from  the  Brethren  Publishing  Company,  then  located  at  Waterloo, 
Iowa.  S.  J.  Harrison  was  elected  and  ordained  editor  of  the 
paper  for  one  year.  A.  D.  Gnagey,  B.  C.  Moomaw,  and  J.  H. 
Knepper  were  appointed  a  committee  on  Brethren  Sunday-school 
literature,  and  authorized  to  take  the  needed  steps  to  provide  a 
suitable  literature  for  Brethren  Sunday-schools. 

The  conference  recommended  a  young  people's  society. 

The  conference  reaffirmed  the  former  position  of  the  church 
in  renouncing  all  creeds  of  every  description,  except  the  Bible, 
the  whole  Bible ;  but  for  the  satisfaction  of  honest  inquirers,  who 
are  unacquainted  with  our  people,  they  announced  officially  that 
the  Brethren  Church  understands  her  creed  to  teach,  among  other 
things,  the  following : — 

1.  That  the  ordinance  of  baptism  is  trine  immersion  only. 

2.  That  feet- washing  is  a  divine  institution,  and  should  be 
practiced  in  the  public  worship  by  all  saints,  in  connection  with 
the  Lord's  Supper. 

3.  That  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  full  evening  meal,  and  is  to  be 
eaten  in  the  night,  as  a  divine  institution,  in  the  public  worship  of 
God,  in  connection  with  the  communion  of  bread  and  wrine. 

4.  That  the  eating  of  the  communion  bread  and  the  drinking 
of  the  communion  wine,  in  connection  with  the  Lord's  Supper,  is 
a  divine  ordinance,  to  be  thus  kept  and  obeyed  by  the  church,  in 
her  public  worship. 

5.  That  the  "holy  kiss"  is  a  divine  institution,  to  be  practiced 
by  all  the  saints  in  the  public  worship  of  God. 

6.  That  the  various  separate  and  collective  congregations,  while 
absolutely  and  truly  congregational  in  government,  yet  each  and 
all  have  a  divine  relation  to  each  other,  and  to  the  whole  church 
as  the  body  of  Christ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  faith,  character, 
and  practice  of  each  and  all  are  under  the  same  divine  law  of  gov 


BRETHREN    CHURCH HISTORICAL.  547 

ernment,  under  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  each  other,  as  the 
Word  of  God  teaches. 

7.  That  hereafter  our  general  convention  shall  be  called  the 
Brethren  General  Conference. 

The  general  conference  was  held  at  Warsaw,  Indiana,  August 
22-25,  1893.  J.  M.  Tombaugh,  moderator.  S.  J.  Harrison  was 
reelected  editor  for  the  next  year. 

''King's  Children"  was  adopted  as  the  proper  name  for  the  young 
people's  society  of  the  Brethren  Church,  and  J.  O.  Talley  was 
chosen  as  director,  C.  F.  Yoder,  secretary,  and  Emma  Lichty, 
treasurer.  As  a  board  of  officers  of  the  national  society,  J.  O. 
Talley  and  J.  A.  Miller  were  authorized  to  publish  a  paper  for 
the  young  people. 

The  general  conference  was  held  in  the  college  chapel,  at  Ash- 
land, Ohio,  August  25-28,  1894.     J.  H.  Knepper,  moderator. 

At  this  conference  A.  D.  Gnagey  was  chosen  editor  of  the 
Brethren  Evangelist  and  the  Sunday-school  literature. 

The  Sisters'  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  reported  thirty 
organized  societies.  The  former  officers  were  continued.  The 
society  decided  to  send  Sister  Laura  Grossnickle  into  the  field 
as  an  organizer,  and  the  conference  donated  $178  to  help  pay  the 
solicitor.  The  society  donated  $150  toward  the  support  of  the 
theological  chair  of  Ashland  College. 

The  conference  of  1895  was  held  at  Ashland,  September  3-5. 
W.  C.  Perry,  moderator. 

Dr.  J.  E.  Roop,  J.  D.  McFaden,  and  David  Augustine  were 
elected  trustees  of  the  general  mission,  and  reported  $69.25  in 
the  treasury. 

The  committee  on  statistics  reported  the  following : — 

1.  Number  of  congregations 138 

2.  Number  places  where  regular  services  are  held.  .206 

3.  Number  church  houses  owned — wholly,  116;  in 

part,  14 ;  total 130 

4.  Number  members  reported 10,031 

5.  Total  accessions  during  year i,52^ 

6.  Total  number  young  people's  societies,  47  ;  mem- 

bership   2,053 


548  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

7.  Total  number  S.  S.  C.  E.  and  Aid  Societies,  66 ; 

membership 1,301 

8.  Total   number   Sunday-schools,    146;   member- 

ship   9>452 

9.  Total  value  of  church  property $256,188 

10.  Total  amount  expenses  during  year,  about .  .      32,000 

The  conference  of  1896  was  held  at  Eagle  Lake,  Indiana, 
August  27  to  September  I.     J.  C.  Mackey,  moderator. 

An  unusual  degree  of  missionary  zeal  was  manifested  at  this 
meeting.  A  mission  work  was  established  in  Chicago.  Nearly 
$2,000  were  subscribed  toward  its  support. 

The  Sisters'  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  reported  success. 
Sister  Grossnickle  was  retained  president  of  the  society.  The 
aggregate  earnings  for  the  year,  including  dues  and  free-will 
offering,  was  about  $3,000. 

The  King's  Children  Society  also  reported  a  prosperous  year. 
More  than  2,200  active  senior  members  and  about  700  juniors 
were  said  to  belong  to  the  society. 

The  general  conference  was  held  at  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania, 
August  26  to  September  1,  1897.     J.  M.  Tombaugh,  moderator. 

The  committee  on  enrolment  reported  94  delegates  and  11 
churches  represented  by  letter. 

The  finance  committee  of  Ashland  College  presented  the  fol- 
lowing statement : — 

Bills  payable $I5>:11  6l 

Accounts  payable 667  22 

Interest  to  May  1,  1897 96:  93 

Total  liabilities $16,740  76 

Bills  receivable $6,4X9  84 

Interest  to  May  1,  1897 385   l9 

Total   resources $6,805  03 

Amount  short 9>935  73 

$16,740  76 


BRETHREN    CHURCH HISTORICAL.  549 

The  committee  on  temperance  reported  the  following : — 
i.  That    we  as  a    conference    place    ourselves    on    record    as 
opposed  to  the  liquor  traffic. 

2.  That  the  licensing  of  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  is 
unpatriotic  and  unchristian. 

3.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  follower  of  Jesus  Christ  by  both 
his  voice  and  vote  to  discountenance  and  prohibit  the  sale  of 
distilled  and  malted  liquors. 

The  secretary  of  mission  board  made  the  following  report: — 

TOTAL    RECEIPTS. 

From   pledges $877  81 

Lectures   296  07 

Other  sources 425  62 


$1,599  5o 

EXPENDITURES. 

Paid   out $1,834  82 

To  balance   235  32 


$1,834  82 
The  next   general  conference  of  the    Brethren    Church    was 
held    at    Winona    Park,  Indiana,  commencing   August  29,  1899. 
J.  H.  Knepper,  moderator. 

The  board  of  publication  presented  the  following  statement  of 
accounts :  — 

Evangelist  subscriptions    $2,895  51 

Quarterlies    1,131   51 

The  Angelus 532  56 

Our  Little  Folks 306  29 

Book   sales   395   13 

Job  work,  tracts,  etc 383  50 

Donation  from  Ellen  Gnagey  Lichty 300  00 


$5,944  50 


550  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

EXPENDITURES. 

Wages  $1,560  00 

Composition    1 ,044  56 

Paper    1 ,074  46 

Postage   272  02 

Books  and  Bibles 442  19 

Sundry  expenses   638  01 

Payment  on  A.  D.  Gnagey's  account 300  00 

$5.33i  24 
Net  profit  on  business 613  26 

Total  receipts  as  recorded  on  cash  book,  includ- 
ing donation  and  money  borrowed $6,359  63 

Total  amount  of  payments   6,275  80 

Cash  on  hand  August  1 $83  83 

ASSETS. 

Cash  on  hand  August  1   $  83  83 

Stock  on  hand   400  00 

Outstanding  accounts,  S.  S.  literature 175  00 

Outstanding  accounts,  expired  subscriptions ....  300  00 

Otustanding  accounts,  ledger  account,  1898-99.  .  606  95 

Outstanding  accounts,  old  ledgers 692  66 

Outstanding  accounts,  old  subscriptions 600  25 

$2,858  69 
Printing  plant   2,500  00 

$5,358  69 
The  board  of  missions  reported : — 

Total  receipts $1,856  86 

Amounts  paid  out 1 ,845  78 

Balance  on  hand    $11  08 


BRETHREN    CHURCH HISTORICAL.  55 1 

The  Washington  City  and  Chicago  Missions  reported  success 
during  the  past  year,  but  did  not  give  an  itemized  statement. 

The  committee  on  credentials  reported  an  attendance  of  117 
delegates. 

The  committee  on  resolutions  recommended  the  following : — 

"We  reaffirm  the  resolutions  of  previous  conferences  in  con- 
demnation of  the  liquor  traffic,  and  the  entire  license  system. 

"We  urge  all  our  pastors  to  agitate  among  our  Young  People's 
Society  the  importance  of  becoming  more  potent  in  the  general 
work  of  the  church. 

'The  holding  of  Bible  and  missionary  conventions  throughout 
the  brotherhood. 

"The  keeping  in  touch  with  the  isolated  members  of  the 
church." 


CHAPTER    XV 
BRETHREN   CHURCH— CONGREGATIONAL 

ALMENA,    MICHIGAN. 

The  Almena  church  is  located  about  seven  miles  northeast  of 
Pawpaw,  Van  Buren  County,  Michigan,  about  four  and  one- 
half  miles  from  Mattawana  on  the  Michigan  Central  Railroad. 
This  church  was  never  divided.  They  simply  reaffirmed  their 
former  vow  to  take  the  gospel  of  Christ  for  their  only  law  in 
religion  and  church  government,  and  they  would  remain  in  the 
Brethren  Church.  Hence  the  Almena  church  was  never  torn 
asunder  by  the  annual  meeting  rule.  It  stood  loyal  to  the  Mas- 
ter, and  will  stand  as  a  beacon  light  amidst  the  darkness  that  sur- 
rounds them,  ever  holding  to  the  teachings  of  the  divine  Master, 
keeping  the  ordinances  of  the  house  of  God.  Walter  Clark  has 
served  them  as  pastor  and  elder  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and 
is  now  the  elder  in  charge.  Many  were  taken  into  the  church  ; 
some  have  crossed  over  the  river;  some  have  moved  away;  and 
some  have  died  a  spiritual  death.  In  1884  they  commenced  with 
about  thirty  members,  and  they  have  about  as  many  now. 
Elder  in  charge,  Walter  Clark ;  resident  elder,  John  Shank ; 
deacons,  J.  D.  Solomon  and  Henry  Palmateer. 

ANKENYTOWN,     OHIO. 

The  Brethren  Churches  at  Ankenytown  and  North  Liberty  are 
twin  sisters,  having  formerly  been  one  congregation.  It  was 
organized  at  North  Liberty  soon  after  the  Dayton  convention,  in 
1883.  This  organization  was  made  up  of  Leedy  and  Progressive 
Brethren,  about  an  equal  number  of  each.  Brethren  H.  R.  Hol- 
singer,  Isaac  Killhefner,  and  Edward  Mason,  of  Ashland,  Ohio, 
ministered  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  this  infant  church  for  a  year 
or  more.  R.  F.  Mallott  held  successful  revival  meetings  at 
North  Liberty  and  Ankenytown,  resulting  in  a  large  ingath- 
ering  from    the    world    and    from    the    German    Baptist    ranks. 

(552) 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  553 

The  German  Baptists,  claiming  the  property,  took  the  lib- 
erty of  locking  the  church  door  against  the  Progressives, 
but  the  latter,  having  a  majority  of  the  trustees,  unlocked  the 
house,  and  used  it  for  worship  for  a  time.  Then  the  German 
Baptists  proposed  to  exchange  their  interests  in  the  North  Liberty 
house  for  the  interests  of  the  Progressives  in  the  Ankenytown 
property,  which  was  agreed  to,  and  thus  the  church-property 
controversy  was  amicably  adjusted. 

This  left  the  Ankenytown  people  without  a  house  of  worship. 
A  new  church  was  commenced  in  1885,  and  completed  and  dedi- 
cated by  A.  A.  Cober,  on  the  7th  of  November,  1886.  Owing  to 
the  Mallott  scandal, and  other  church  troubles,  a  dark  cloud  came 
over  this  church,  but,  by  the  help  of  the  Lord,  it  was  removed, 
and  all  differences  adjusted.  On  January  7,  1889,  tne  members 
at  North  Liberty  and  Ankenytown  solemnly  agreed  to  again 
labor  together  in  love  and  harmony. 

J.  M.  Bowman  and  I.  D.  Bowman  assisted  in  bringing  about 
this  reunion.  The  latter  was  chosen  as  pastor,  and  the  members 
in  this  vicinity  of  Ankenytown  were  organized  into  a  separate 
church,  but  these  two  churches  have  always  labored  in  harmonv 
and  for  the  best  interests  of  both  churches,  and  always  employed 
the  same  minister.  It  was  a  hard  struggle  for  the  Ankenytown 
congregation  to  pay  the  debt  of  about  fourteen  hundred  dollars  on 
their  church  house,  but  they  finally  lifted  all  legal  claims  against 
said  church.  From  thenceforth  there  was  no  serious  trouble 
among  the  members  of  the  Ankenytown  church. 

I.  D.  Bowman  conducted  a  series  of  meetings  during  the  first 
year  of  his  ministry  at  this  place,  which  resulted  in  a  large 
ingathering  of  souls,  but,  like  so  many  revivals,  a  large  per  cent 
were  like  "springs  without  water."  While  many  went  back  from 
whence  they  came,  yet  there  were  some  like  gold  tried  in  the  fire, 
who  are  among  the  best  workers  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord. 
Brother  Bowman  served  this  church  two  years.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  D.  C.  Christner.  There  were  no  accessions  to  the 
church  during  his  service,  neither  was  the  church  improved  in 
spirituality  or  piety.      Then  the  church    was    without  a    pastor 


554  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

about  two  years,  during  which  time  their  pulpit  was  occupied  by 
Ashland  College  students,  namely,  J.  A.  Miller,  G.  W.  Rench, 
Wm.  H.  Miller,  H.  M.  Oberhultzer,  Roger  Darling,  S.  B.  Grisso, 
and  W.  A.  Welty. 

Jesse  Calvert,  of  Indiana,  took  charge  in  1894,  and  had  the 
pastoral  care  for  two  years.  S.  B.  Grisso,  of  Ashland,  Ohio,  was 
chosen  as  pastor  in  1896,  and  had  the  oversight  for  two  years,  to 
the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  church. 

The  present  pastor,  J.  L.  Kimmel,  took  charge  of  this  church 
April  1,  1898,  and  has  recently  been  chosen  to  serve  from  April 
1,  1900,  to  April  1,  1901.  Having  his  home  in  Buckeye  City,  the 
members  are  deprived  of  his  help  in  some  lines  of  church  work, 
but  his  going  in  and  out  among  them  has  been  very  pleasant  and 
profitable.  His  protracted  efforts  are  untiring  and  persevering. 
His  warm  appeals  and  prayers  are  effectual  and  fervent.  The 
church  is  increasing  numerically  as  well  as  spiritually.  It  has  an 
evergreen  Sunday-school  for  the  first  time  in  its  history,  a  Sis- 
ters' Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  and  a  Young  People's  Society- 
During  the  last  year  valuable  improvements  have  been  made  to 
their  church  property.  The  present  pastor  says  this  is  now  one 
of  the  best  churches  in  Ohio.  Its  present  membership  numbers 
ninety-five. 

APPANOOSE,    IOWA. 

The  church  at  Udell,  Iowa,  was  organized  by  Elders  S.  H. 
Bashor  and  S.  J.  Harrison,  February  21,  1891,  with  forty-four 
charter  members,  under  the  name  of  Appanoose  County  Brethren 
Church.  In  the  fall  of  1891  a  house  of  worship  was  built,  40x36 
feet,  plainly  furnished.  It  was  dedicated  in  February,  1892, 
Elder  W.  J.  H.  Bauman  preaching  the  dedicatory  sermon,  and 
the  house  was  named  New  Hope. 

Since  the  organization  of  this  church  thirty-seven  names  have 
been  added  to  the  list,  making  a  membership  of  eighty-one,  but  of 
this  number  five  have  died,  twenty  have  moved  away,  four  have 
withdrawn,  and  four  were  disfellowshiped.  The  present  mem- 
bership   (January   1,   1900)    is   forty-eight.     Brother  and   Sister 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  555 

Noah  Flora,  of  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  are  the  present  pastors,  who 
preach  alternately  twice  each  month. 

ASHLAND    CITY,    OHIO. 

The  Ashland  City  church  passed  through  many  vicissitudes. 
Organized  May  22,  1879,  under  the  eldership  of  S.  Z.  Sharp,  it 
continued  under  his  care  until  December  31,  1880,  when  it  was 
taken  from  him  and  placed  in  the  charge  of  R.  H.  Miller,  who 
continued  in  charge  until  March,  1882,  when  the  church  was  left 
without  any  particular  oversight  until  the  reorganization  as  a 
Brethren  Church. 

THE  ASHLAND  ELDERS'   COUNCIL. 

Now  as  to  the  immediate  cause  of  what  was  at  that  time  called 
"The  Ashland  Elders'  Council." 

Elder  Henry  R.  Holsinger  had  been  disfellowshiped  by  a  com- 
mittee, and  this  action  had  been  approved  by  annual  meeting  at 
Arnold's  Grove,  in  1882.  Elder  Holsinger  was,  at  that  time, 
publishing  the  Progressive  Christian,  at  Berlin,  Pennsylvania. 
The  Gospel  Preacher,  under  the  editorial  management  of  Edward 
Mason  and  David  Bailey,  published  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  was  now 
truly  progressive,  and  it  was  decided  to  consolidate  the  two 
papers.  Brother  Holsinger  was,  therefore,  requested  to  remove 
to  Ashland,  and  take  charge  of  the  united  papers. 

On  July  1,  1882,  Brother  Holsinger  was  present  at  a  council 
meeting  of  the  Ashland  City  church,  when  the  following  resolu- 
tion was  passed  without  one  dissenting  voice : — 

"Resolved,  That  Henry  R.  Holsinger  be  recognized  as  a  min- 
ister by  this  congregation,  and  that  he  be  asked  to  take  his  place 
on  the  stand  as  such." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  it  was  only  extending  the  courtesies  of 
the  meeting  to  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  not  recognizing  him  as  a 
member  of  the  church,  for  he  had  not  yet  presented  his  church 
letter. 

On  account  of  above  action,  the  adjoining  elders  were  called 
in  to  a  council,  held  in  the  college  chapel,  on  Saturday,  July  22, 
1882,  with  the  view  of  setting  matters  right. 


556  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

The  adjoining  elders  called  were  D.  N.  Workman,  of  the  Ash- 
land Church,  George  Worst  and  William  Sadler,  of  the  Maple 
Grove  church.  Elder  Henry  Kilhefner,  Workman's  co-elder, 
was  omitted  from  this  set,  as  explained  by  Workman,  on  account 
of  his  having  partially  retired  from  active  duty.  .  Of  the  second 
tier  of  adjoining  elders,  James  McMullen,  of  Richland,  Samuel 
Garver,  of  Black  River,  George  Irvin,  of  Beach  Grove,  and  Mor- 
gan Workman,  of  Loudonville,  were  called,  and  P.  J.  Brown  was 
omitted  from  this  set  on  account  of  his  progressive  proclivities. 
I.  D.  Parker,  of  the  Ashland  City  church,  and  D.  E.  Brubaker,  of 
Loudonville,  second-degree  ministers,  were  also  invited.  Elders 
James  Quinter  and  R.  H.  Miller  were  invited  as  council  for  the 
adjoining  elders,  but  Miller  found  it  convenient  to  be  otherwise 
engaged,  on  account  of  certain  complications  with  members  of  the 
Ashland  City  church. 

The  meeting  was  organized  by  appointing  I.  D.  Parker  chair- 
man and  Wm.  Sadler  secretary  of  the  meeting,  and  D.  N.  Work- 
man foreman  of  the  committee  of  elders. 

The  charge  was  then  read,  which  was  as  follows : — 

"Charge  against  Edward  Mason,  John  Kurtz,  Richard  Arnold, 
H.  K.  Myers,  and  such  other  members  of  Ashland  City  church 
as  have  given  encouragement  to  the  convention  held  in  the  college 
at  Ashland,  June  29,  at  which  time  said  members,  in  a  paper 
called  'Declaration  of  Principles,'  set  forth  their  determination 
to  continue  to  fellowship  with  those  whom  annual  conference 
had  declared  expelled  from  the  church,  and  carried  their  inten- 
tions into  effect  on  July  1,  by  receiving  H.  R.  Holsinger  as  a 
minister,  and  inviting  him  to  take  his  place  in  the  Ashland  City 
church  as  such." 

It  was  found  that  no  signature  was  attached  to  the  charge,  and 
the  accused  refused  to  plead  to  an  anonymous  charge.  It  was 
then  signed  by  the  elders,  when  it  was  again  presented  to  the 
accused. 

They  all  plead  "not  guilty."  Brother  Arnold  explained 
further  that  in  the  quotation  from  the  "Declaration  of  Prin- 
ciples" they  had  changed    the    language,  what  was  really  stated 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  557 

being,  "will  continue  to  fellowship  all  who  may  have  been,  or 
may  hereafter  be,  expelled  without  gospel  authority  or  a  just 
trial." 

After  much  quibbling  the  elders  acknowledged  their  error,  and 
•prepared  another  charge,  which  read  as  follows : — 

''Charge  against  Edward  Mason,  John  Kurtz,  Richard  Arnold, 
H.  K.  Myers,  and  such  other  members  of  the  Ashland  City 
church  as  have  given  encouragement  to  the  convention  held  in 
the  college  at  Ashland,  June  29,  1882,  and  also  received  H.  R. 
Holsinger  as  a  minister,  and  invited  him  to  take  his  place  in 
Ashland  City  church,  since  his  expulsion  from  the  German 
Baptist  Church  has  been  recognized  by  annual  meeting." 

This  charge  was  accepted,  though  it  was  not  entirely  satisfac- 
tory. One  of  the  accused  inquired  by  what  law  they  were  to  be 
tried,  and  was  answered  that  it  would  be  by  the.  gospel  as  inter- 
preted by  annual  meeting.  He  then  asked  what  part  of  the  gos- 
pel they  were  accused  of  having  violated.  He  pressed  this  mat- 
ter, but  the  chairman  refused  to  answer,  saying  he  was  not  there 
to  be  catechized. 

The  question  was  then  raised  as  to  who  should  be  the  judges, 
since  the  elders  had  signed  the  charge,  and  thus  made  themselves 
the  accusers  and  therefore  ineligible  as  judges.  The  point  was 
also  made  that  D.  N.  Workman  was  not  legally  ordained,  and  was 
not,  therefore,  eligible  as  a  judge,  but  the  committee  refused  to 
be  enlightened  on  that  point. 

Brother  Quinter  was  ill  at  ease,  but  could  not  encourage  the 
accused.  He  took  occasion  to  remark,  during  the  discussion, 
that  he  would  have  preferred  for  Holsinger  to  have  had  a  trial, 
but  annual  meeting  had  accepted  the  report  of  the  committee,  and 
all  loyal  members  must  be  submissive  to  the  decision.  Elder 
P.  J.  Brown  made  a  powerful  appeal  for  the  defense,  but,  of 
course,  it  had  no  effect  on  the  court.  Brother  Holsinger  asked 
to  be  heard,  but  was  refused  at  first,  but  after  some  consultation 
he  was  allowed  to  speak  under  protest.     The  following  is  a 


558  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  H.  R.  HOLSINGER  S  REMARKS  AT  THE  ASHLAND  ELDERS 

COUNCIL. 


"Insinuations  having  been  made  that  I  was  forcing  myself 
upon  the  council,  I  wish  to  say  that  I  do  not  consider  myself  an 
intruder.  I  have  come  to  Ashland  to  live  and  to  do  business,  and 
the  Ashland  City  church  has,  without  any  solicitation,  invited 
me  to  membership  and  to  the  ministry,  as  all  have  noticed  by  the 
record  read  from  the  church  book  this  afternoon.  I  thanked 
them  for  the  courtesy,  and  mean  to  exercise  my  liberties,  and 
will  try  to  serve  them  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  I  feel  humil- 
iated by  the  frequent  references  to  my  expulsion,  and,  especially, 
by  the  apparent  satisfaction  with  which  some  of  my  opponents 
use  the  expression.  But  I  am  thankful  that  no  crime  was  laid 
to  the  charge.  While  I  have  been  expelled  from  the  general 
brotherhood,  I  am  happy  to  know  that  I  have  the  love  and  esteem 
of  my  home  church  and  the  community  in  which  I  live.  Indeed, 
if  I  knew  that  the  people  in  my  neighborhood  talked  about  me  as 
I  have  heard  from  some  of  the  board  of  elders  on  this  trial,  both 
from  church  members  and  outsiders,  I  would  step  down  and  out, 
and  never  expect  favors  of  any  church.  [That  was  the  reason 
they  had  been  objected  to  as  not  being  competent  to  sit  on  this 
case,  but  it  was  all  squashed  and  smoothed  over.] 

"There  are  but  two  courses  of  procedure  left  for  me :  either  I 
must  stand  aloof  from  all  church  work,  or  I  must  work  with 
such  of  my  Christian  brethren  as  will  permit  me  to  associate  with 
them.  The  annual  meeting  has  forbidden  me  to  worship  with  it, 
and  hence  wherever  Christian  courtesies  are  extended  to  me  by 
any  of  the  Brethren  churches,  I  feel  at  liberty  to  accept,  and  am 
thankful  for  the  opportunity.  I  feel  that  the  brethren  were  for- 
getting the  instructions  of  Jesus  to  His  disciples,  who,  on  return- 
ing from  one  of  their  ministerial  journeys,  reported  that  they 
had  met  a  man  who  cast  out  devils  in  His  name,  but  he  walked 
not  with  them,  and  they  had  forbidden  him.  The  Saviour 
answered  them :  'Forbid  him  not,  for  there  is  no  man  which  shall 
do  a  miracle  in  My  name,  that  can  lightly  speak  evil  of  Me.     For 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  559 

he  that  is  not  against  us  is  on  our  part.'  It  actually  appeared 
from  the  conduct  of  some  of  the  brethren  that  they  would  be 
better  pleased  if  I  were  to  go  to  the  dogs  than  to  see  me  continue 
to  preach  Christ  and  strive  to  live  a  pious  life.  This  is  a  mys- 
tery to  me.  Again,  I  am  treated  with  more  civility  by  all  other 
sects  than  the  conservatives.  I  have  labored  with  them, 
preached  the  same  gospel,  practiced  the  same  ordinances  and 
all  of  them.  We  have  but  lately  communed  together,  washed 
each  others'  feet,  and  saluted  each  other,  and  why  such  a  feeling 
of  hatred  should  be  harbored  against  me  is  hard  to  account  for, 
except  from  the  fact  that  religious  opposition  is  the  most  intol- 
erant of  all  prejudices.  I  do  not  ignore  any  of  my  brethren,  but 
they  are  ignoring  me,  and  are  even  trying  to  injure  me  by  cir- 
culating falsehoods  against  me.  This  should  not  be  so,  and  only 
goes  to  prove  my  position  that  the  whole  cause  of  the  division  in 
the  church  is  on  account  of  jealousy,  prejudice,  and  ignorance." 

The  accused  having  plead  guilty  to  the  charge,  the  following 
resolution  was  introduced  : — 

"Resolved,  That  we,  the  loyal  members  of  the  Ashland  City 
church,  can  not  hold  in  fellowship  those  members  who  recognize 
H.  R.  Holsinger  as  a  member  of  the  church." 

It  was  then  stated  and  reiterated  that  all  who  voted  in  the 
negative  would  vote  themselves  out  of  the  church,  as  it  would 
be  acknowledged  that  they  were  not  loyal  to  the  church,  so  it  was 
decided  by  most  of  the  members  that  they  would  not  vote  at  all. 
But  eight  did  not  vote  for  the  resolution,  and  it  was  decided  that 
it  was  passed  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  all  that  voted. 

The  accused  were  then  given  an  opportunity  to  retract,  or 
rescind  their  action  of  July  i  in  receiving  Holsinger  as  a  minis- 
ter, but  no  one  did  so.  So  the  council  closed.  It  should  be 
noted  here  that  this  council  was  held  with  open  doors,  while 
Brother  Holsinger,  a  few  months  before,  was  disowned  for  refus- 
ing to  be  tried  with  closed  doors. 

In  a  few  days  after  the  council  the  eight  loyal  members  were 
called  together,  and  the  Ashland  City  German  Baptist  Church  was 
duly  organized.     All  the  members  not  individually  charged,  had 


560  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

an  opportunity  to  say  whether  they  would  fellowship  Holsinger 
or  not,  but  not  one  retracted  the  position  tacitly  taken  at  the  pub- 
lic council.  The  Ashland  City  church,  however,  did  not  sit  still 
and  idly  lament  the  oppression  of  those  in  authority,  for,  on  the 
evening  of  August  8,  1882,  a  council  was  called,  at  which  time 
Brother  Holsinger  offered  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
unanimously  adopted : — 

"Whereas,  Certain  adjoining  elders  lately  came  into  our 
church,  and  with  some  of  our  members  held  a  council  meeting, 
and  pretended  to  have  expelled  all  the  members  who  did  not 
agree  with  them ;  and, 

"Whereas,  The  Ashland  City  church  has  maintained  its 
organization  in  tact,  having  all  the  deacons,  the  clerk,  the  treas- 
urer, and  one  of  the  two  ministers ;  therefore, 

''Resolved,  That  we  will  maintain  the  organization  of  the 
church  as  heretofore,  and  retain  the  officers. 

"Resolved,  That,  inasmuch  as  those  who  have  left  the  church 
have  done  so  in  a  body,  and  demanded  the  money  belonging  to 
the  church,  they  shall  have  their  pro  rata  share  of  the  church 
funds  after  all  indebtedness  is  liquidated,  and  that  Brethren  John 
Kurtz  and  H.  K.  Myers  be  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with' 
a  similar  committee  from  said  members  to  make  a  settlement." 

To  show  the  feeling  manifested  towards  the  so-called  loyal 
members,  the  following  resolution,  passed  at  this  same  meeting, 
is  reproduced  here  : — 

"Resolved,  That  we  as  a  church  invite  all  the  German  Baptist 
fraternity  to  commune  with  us." 

On  December  14,  1882,  the  following  resolution  was  passed: — 

"Inasmuch  as  Abram  Myers  has  withdrawn  from  the  Ashland 
City  congregation,  and  being  a  trustee  of  the  said  church,  having 
violated  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  giving  up  certain  notes, 
the  property  of  the  above  congregation  ;  therefore,  although  aware 
that  this  property  has  been  taken  from  us  by  misrepresentations, 
and  that  we  could  secure  it  by  law ; 

"Resolved,  That,  for  the  present,  we  do  nothing  in  the  case, 
but  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  the  trustees  to  do  in  the  matter  that 
which  they  consider  best  for  the  cause  of  Christianity." 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  56 1 

We  have  tried  to  collate  the  facts  so  that  an  intelligent  posterity 
may  judge  of  the  righteousness  and  good  intentions  of  the  several 
actors  of  this  little  drama.  Several  have  already  "passed  over," 
and  we  trust  that  they  know  now,  better  than  we,  whose  acts  best 
stand  the  searchlight  of  the  disenthralled  knowledge  of  the  spirit 
world.  David  Bailey. 

ATWATER,    CALIFORNIA. 

The  Atwater  Brethren  Church  is  located  at  Atwater,  Merced 
County,  California.  It  was  organized  in  July,  1898,  at  the  close 
of  a  three-weeks  revival  held  by  Brother  Shively.  This  meeting 
resulted  in  fifteen  converts,  thirteen  of  whom  entered  the  organ- 
ization. Brother  E.  B.  Osborne  was  elected  and  ordained  to  the 
office  of  deacon,  and  Sister  Carrie  Peck  was  elected  secretary. 
Shively  presided  at  the  meeting,  and  became  first  pastor  and 
elder,  which  office  he  yet  holds.  Since  the  organization  there 
have  been  five  baptisms,  and  an  equal  number  added  to  the  church. 
No  church  property.     Worship  in  a  hall. 

AURELIA,    IOWA. 

The  Brethren  Church  near  Aurelia,  Iowa,  was  organized  by 
Elder  John  Nicholson,  on  the  17th  day  of  September,  1883,  when 
the  following-named  brethren  and  sisters  agreed  to  take  the 
gospel  alone  as  their  rule  and  guide,  and  to  assume  the  name 
Brethren,  as  adopted  by  the  Dayton,  Ohio,  conference:  Elias 
Leonard,  S.  B.  Reist,  John  Forney,  E.  L.  De  Vore,  P.  D.  Wine, 
Sol.  Grove,  Mrs.  Mary  Templeman,  Carrie  Templeman,  Sarah 
Miller,  May  Forney,  Emma  De  Vore,  Katie  Reist,  J.  W.  Hinkle. 

Elias  Leonard  was  chosen  elder,  Sol.  Grove  and  S.  B.  Reist 
deacons,  and  were  confirmed  by  Elder  Nicholson. 

E.  L.  De  Vore,  John  Forney,  and  J.  W.  Hinkle  were  elected 
trustees,  and  J.  W.  Hinkle  as  secretary.  The  brethren  then 
decided  that  the  church  here  be  known  as  the  Brethren  Church, 
Aurelia,  Iowa. 

On  March  31,  1888,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  solicit  aid 
to  build  a  church  house.  The  total  cost  of  the  church,  including 
furniture  and  fixtures,  was  about  $1,550.  It  was  dedicated  as 
36 


562 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


the  Mt.  Zion  Brethren  Church,  October  21 ,  1888,  by  E.  L.  Hil- 
debrand,  of  Waterloo,  Iowa. 

Membership  at  present  time,  near  enough  to  attend  services, 
twenty-three. 

Living  at  a  distance  too  great  to  attend  services,  thirteen. 

Number  of  members  at  organization,  thirteen. 

Number  received  by  relation,  fifteen.  Number  of  baptisms, 
fifty-two. 

Church  letters  granted,  twelve.  Deceased,  five.  Gone  to  other 
churches,  nine. 

Elders  who  have  served  this  church :  Elias  Leonard,  S.  B.  Reist, 
S.  T.  Grove,  W.  S.  McClain. 

Deacons :  S.  T.  Grove,  S.  B.  Reist,  Wm.  Leonard,  T.  B.  Parker, 
M.  H.  Grove. 

Clerks:  J.  W.  Hinkle,  E.  L.  De  Vore,  D.  Forney. 

Names  of  pastors  that  have  had  charge :  John  Nicholson,  E.  E. 
Haskins,    H.  S.  Enslow,    C.  Forney,    H.  Hollis,    J.  E.  Braker. 

Since  April  1,  1899,  Sister  Catharine  A.  Parke  preached  every 
two  weeks. 

BEAVER  CITY,   NEBRASKA. 

The  Beaver  City  church  was  first  named  "Somerset  Brethren 
Church."  It  is  located  in  Beaver  Valley,  on  Beaver  Creek, 
Furnas  County,  about  nine  miles  south  of  the  Republican  River. 

It  was  organized  by  Elder  C.  Forney,  then  of  Burr  Oak, 
Kansas,  December  7,  1884,  with  the  following  seven  members, 
namely  :  B.  F.  Seibert,  Ella  Maple,  J.  H.  Frank,  Israel  Baer,  Hattie 
Baer,  Daniel  Baer,  Peter  Baer.  All  of  these  members  formerly 
belonged  to  the  German  Baptist  Church,  but,  owing  to  the  trouble 
then  existing  in  that  denomination,  and  being  without  a  church 
home,  feeling  lonely  and  hungry  for  the  bread  of  life,  in  the 
summer  of  1884,  they  called  for  Elder  Jacob  Armsberger,  then  of 
Norton  County,  Kansas,  who  came  and  broke  unto  them  the 
bread.  In  the  fall  of  1884,  Elder  C.  Forney,  then  of  Burr  Oak, 
Kansas,  was  called  to  hold  a  protracted  meeting.  On  Decem- 
ber 1  he  commenced  the  first  service  in  Brother  Israel  Baer's  sod 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  563 

dwelling-house.  The  place  of  meeting  was,  however,  soon 
changed  to  a  new  and  commodious  schoolhouse,  one  mile  west, 
where  the  meetings  were  continued  over  the  next  week.  On 
December  6  the  first  love-feast  was  held,  which  was  truly  apos- 
tolic, as  no  sisters  communed,  on  account  of  ill  health.  The 
evening  was  beautiful,  and  it  was  a  love-feast  indeed.  The 
occasion  was  solemn  and  impressive.  The  following  week  was 
one  of  joy  and  gladness.  Five  persons  wrere  added  to  the  num- 
ber, making  a  membership  of  twelve. 

Elder  Jacob  Armsberger  was  placed  in  charge  of  this  little 
band,  but  died  during  the  first  year. 

In  the  spring  of  1884  C.  Forney  was  procured  as  pastor,  to 
make  one  visit  every  two  months,  and  hold  three  services  each 
trip  and  one  revival.  The  amount  paid  him  was  fifty  dollars 
and  traveling  expenses.  The  revival  meeting  was  held  in  June, 
resulting  in  four  additions  by  baptism.  Communion  services 
were  also  held  during  this  meeting.  Brother  Forney  served  the 
Beaver  City  church  as  pastor  from  the  time  of  his  first  engage- 
ment— although  not  his  entire  time — until  October  1,   1893. 

Brother  J.  R.  Keller  was  then  engaged,  and  served  two  years, 
after  which  the  church  was  without  any  pastor  for  some  time. 

After  an  absence  of  nearly  three  years,  Brother  Forney 
returned,  and  again  took  charge  of  the  church.  It  was  now  in 
bad  condition  spiritually  and  financially,  and  the  membership 
much  smaller  than  in  1893.  Now  the  church  is  out  of  debt 
again,  and  slowly  gaining  ground,  gathering  in  such  as  should 
be  saved.  Present  membership,  sixty ;  value  of  church  property, 
about  $700 ;  present  pastor,  C.  Forney. 

BEAR    CREEK,    OHIO. 

The  Bear  Creek  church  is  located  six  miles  west  of  Dayton,  on 
the  Dayton  and  Western  Traction  Road.  It  was  organized  at  the 
residence  of  M.  C.  Kimmel,  October  11,  1882.  The  charter  mem- 
bers were  M.  C.  Kimmel  and  wife,  A.  Beeghley  and  wife,  Susan 
Shank,  Grandmother  Catherine  Kimmel,  J.  R.  Denlinger  and  wife, 
Sarah  Shank,  J.  W.  Fitzgerald  and  wife,  J.  P.  Martin  and  wife, 


564  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Sarah  Roads,  Mary  A.  Kline,  and  James  A.  Ridenour.  M.  C. 
Kimmel  and  A.  Beeghley  were  elected  deacons,  and  J.  P.  Martin 
minister.  Two  days  later  these  brethren  were  duly  installed  by 
the  laying  on  of  hands  by  H.  R.  Holsinger.  By  request  of  the 
church,  J.  W.  Beer  assumed  the  eldership  of  the  new  congregation. 
A  handsome  brick  church,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  four  hun- 
dred, at  a  cost  of  over  $3,000,  was  built,  and  dedicated  March, 
1883.  This  was  followed  by  the  first  Progressive  revival  in  the 
Miami  Valley.  It  was  conducted  by  S.  H.  Bashor,  and  thirty 
converts  united  with  the  church. 

The  following  December  29  Henry  Murr  was  elected  minister. 
The  first  regularly  employed  and  paid  minister  of  the  Tunkers 
in  this  part  of  the  brotherhood  was  E.  S.  Miller,  of  Maryland,  who 
served  the  church  faithfully  for  one  year.  P.  J.  Brown  and 
Edward  Mason  each  served  a  year.  J.  M.  Tombaugh  followed, 
with  a  service  of  eight  years. 

Many  of  the  charter  members  have  joined  the  church  triumph- 
ant, Grandmother  Kimmel  and  her  son,  M.  C.  Kimmel,  having 
died  within  a  few  hours  of  each  other.  The  membership  now 
numbers  one  hundred  and  five.  The  deacons  are  Peter  Shaub 
and  Marion  John. 

BERLIN,    PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  Brothers'  Valley  congregation  of  the  Tunker  Church  is  the 
oldest  organization  of  the  fraternity  in  Somerset  County,  Penn- 
sylvania. I  am  unable  to  give  its  origin,  but  I  find  accounts  of 
members  residing  in  the  territory  as  early  as  1760. 

It  is  also  a  well-established  fact  that  the  valley  and  the  township 
took  their  names  from  the  Tunkers,  who  invariably  called  them- 
selves brethren ;  hence  the  name  Brethren's  Valley,  or  Brothers' 
Valley.  A  post-office  has  since  been  established  in  the  township, 
named  Brotherton.  The  congregation  occupied  a  greater  por- 
tion of  the  territory  known  as  the  Glades.  The  church  was  min- 
istered to  and  presided  over  at  various  periods  by  Elders  Peter 
Cober,  John  Berkley,  Martin  Meyers,  Jacob  Meyers,  Jacob 
Blough,  and  Dr.  John  P.  Cober.     The  church  increased  in  num- 


(8aMJvuu<-  C^W/  2Lt£^ 


566  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ber,  from  time  to  time,  until,  in  1880,  it  had  a  membership  of 
over  four  hundred.  Then  it  was  deemed  proper  to  subdivide  the 
territory.  This  was  accomplished  at  a  council  meeting  appointed 
for  the  purpose  on  October  9,  1880.  Committees  were  appointed 
to  name  the  boundaries  and  report  to  the  next  council  meeting, 
on  the  23d  of  the  same  month. 

The  meeting  on  the  23d  was  presided  over  by  Elder  P.  J. 
Brown,  of  Ohio.  The  committee  on  boundaries  reported  the 
lines  of  four  separate  congregations,  and  the  report  was  unan- 
imously adopted,  with  a  few  amendments. 

The  names  adopted  by  the  several  branches  were : — 

1.  Berlin  Church,  embracing  the  town  of  Berlin,  the  meeting- 
house known  as  Peter  Beechley's"  (Schmaltz  Thai),  and  the 
appointment  at  Custer's.  The  officers  were :  Ministers,  Dr.  John 
P.  Cober  and  H.  R.  Holsinger ;  deacons,  John  J.  Bittner,  Jacob 
Musser,  Joseph  G.  Coleman,  and  Peter  Beeghly,  with  a  member- 
ship of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

2.  Stony  Creek  Church.  The  territory  occupied  by  this  con- 
gregation is  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Berlin  church,  on  the 
east  by  Dunning's  Creek,  on  the  north  by  Shade,  and  on  the  west 
by  Brothers'  Valley  and  Somerset  churches.  Josiah  Kimmel, 
Abram  J.  Miller,  William  M.  Walker,  and  Joseph  L.  Kimmel  were 
the  deacons.  There  were  no  ministers,  but  a  membership  of  about 
seventy-five,  with  two  meeting-houses. 

3.  Somerset  Church.  This  congregation  is  surrounded  by 
Brothers'  Valley,  Stony  Creek,  Que-Mahoning,  and  Middle  Creek 
churches.  Michael  Weyand,  Solomon  J.  Bear,  ministers ;  Will- 
iam N.  Trent  and  Philip  F.  Cupp,  deacons ;  with  a  membership 
of  about  seventy-five,  and  one  meeting-house. 

4.  Brothers'  Valley  retained  the  original  name,  and  is  bounded 
by  the  other  three  congregations,  and  Quemahoning  on  the  north. 
Its  officers  were  Elder  Jacob  Blough,  George  Shrock,  William 
Sevits,  and  Daniel  P.  Walker,  ministers ;  and  Lewis  J.  Knepper, 
William  G.  Schrock,  John  S.  Meyers,  and  Samuel  F.  Rayman, 
deacons.  Tt  had  a  membership  of  about  one  hundred,  and  two 
houses  of  worship. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  567 

In  casting  a  retrospective  glance  over  those  churches,  I  discover 
that  in  the  Stony  Creek  church  all  the  officials  named  are  still  liv- 
ing, while  in  the  Somerset  church  all  are  dead.  In  the  Brothers' 
Valley  church  all  are  dead  save  William  G.  Schrock  and  John 
S.  Meyers  ;  and  in  the  Berlin  church  Jacob  Musser  and  Peter 
Beeghly  are  still  in  the  land  of  the  living. 

The  above  has  reference  entirely  to  the  affairs  of  the  church 
during  the  German  Baptist  dispensation. 

In  the  reconstruction  which  followed  the  general  division  of  the 
brotherhood,  the  Berlin  church  retained  its  organization  intact, 
holding  church  property  and  endowments.  Afterward,  however, 
a  small  fraction  withdrew,  and  with  Elder  Cover  reorganized  the 
Berlin  German  Baptist  Church,  which  still  exists. 

Soon  after  the  territorial  division,  measures  were  set  on  foot  to 
build  a  church  in  the  town  of  Berlin,  the  congregation  having  pre- 
viously occupied  the  old  Disciple  church,  known  as  Schoff-Kupf. 
In  the  same  house  the  famous  Berlin  Committee  held  its  first  half- 
day's  session. 

The  new  Brethren  Church  was  finished  and  dedicated  on  Sun- 
day, December  4,  1881. 

BETHEL,    INDIANA. 

Bethel  church  is  in  Adams  County,  Indiana.  It  was  organized 
by  J.  H.  Swihart,  December  14,  1889.  Lewis  Huber  was  ordained 
elder.  John  P.  Hordsog  and  David  Debolt  were  made  deacons. 
The  charter  members  were  sixteen ;  present  membership,  ninety. 
The  pastor  during  1899  was  L.  W.  Ditch.  This  congregation  has 
an  excellent  house  of  worship,  an  evergreen  Sunday-school ;  and. 
although  a  country  church,  it  maintains  a  mid-week  prayer- 
meeting. 

BETHEL,    ARKANSAS. 

This  church  is  located  at  Rufus,  Jackson  County,  Arkansas.  It 
was  organized  October  25,  1897,  by  Elder  J.  H.  Swihart,  of  Indi- 
ana. There  were  eleven  charter  members :  Dr.  S.  T.  Swihart  and 
wife,  Alonzo  E.  Shrum  and  wife,  George  Gochenour  and  wife, 
Elbert  Bible  and  wife,  Charles  Smothers  and  wife,  and  Grandma 


568  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Gochenour.  Three  more  were  added  to  the  church  at  that  time, — 
William  Shrum,  J.  C.  Ray,  Miss  Matilda  Rowse.  Later  on  Miss 
Maude  Brown  was  baptized. 

The  church  was  organized  with  Dr.  S.  T.  Swihart  as  elder, 
Alonzo  E.  Shrum  as  deacon,  George  W.  Gochenour  as  clerk,  and 
Elbert  Bible  as  treasurer. 

Elder  J.  H.  Swihart  has  since  settled  at  Rufus,  and  Charles 
Smothers  has  been  elected  clerk.  On  December  25,  1898,  the 
church  met  for  worship,  and  afterwards,  by  unanimous  voice  of 
the  church,  Alonzo  E.  Shrum  was  ordained  to  the  eldership,  by 
J.  H.  Swihart,  assisted  by  Dr.  S.  T.  Swihart. 

They  hold  meetings  the  first  Sunday  in  each  month  in  the 
schoolhouse. 

BROOKLYN,     IOWA. 

The  Brethren  Church,  of  Brooklyn,  Iowa,  was  organized  by 
John  Nicholson,  in  the  fall  of  1883,  with  six  charter  members, 
viz.,  H.  H.  Connell,  Nancy  J.  Connell,  H.  M.  Baker,  S.  S.  Cole- 
man, and  Annie  Coleman.  The  organization  was  effected  in  the 
present  house  of  worship,  which  was  then  owned  by  the  Baptists. 
This  little  band  worshiped  in  a  schoolhouse  south  of  town  for  a 
time.  In  189 1  the  building  now  occupied  was  purchased,  and  a 
very  successful  revival  was  conducted  by  S.  H.  Bashor,  beginning 
January  12,  189 1.  The  church  was  dedicated  the  following  Octo- 
ber. Since  then  revival  meetings  have  been  held  by  J.  H.  Swihart, 
E.  L.  Hildebrand,  L.  S.  Bauman,  Noah  Flora,  C.  Forney,  and 
Clara  Flora. 

The  first  regular  pastor  was  Wm.  Parmer.  Since  then  E.  L. 
Hildebrand,  J.  L.  Gillin,  B.  C.  Moomaw,  C.  Forney,  Fetter  Hall, 
Noah  Flora,  and  Clara  Flora  have  each  served  the  chuch  as 
pastor. 

During  this  time  over  two  hundred  were  added  to  the  church  ;  a 
few  have  died,  a  few  moved  away,  and  a  number  have  been 
"washed  to  their  wallowings  in  the  mire."  Present  membership 
is  about  one  hundred.  The  house  of  worship  is  heated  by  a  fur- 
nace, contains  a  baptistry,  has  a  seating  capacity  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five,  and  is  valued  at  $1,300.     W.  J.  H.  Hannan  took 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  569 

charge  of  the  church  as  resident  pastor,  October  i,  1899,  for  one 
year. 

In  1888  there  were  but  two  members  of  the  Brethren  Church 
in  this  vicinity,  Samuel  Keiser  and  Sarah  A.  Keiser.  In  August 
of  that  year  we  secured  Brother  J.  H.  Swihart, 'who  held  a  ten 
days'  meeting  in  an  unfinished  Disciple  Church.  During  the  meet- 
ing we  had  five  accessions,  two  of  which  came  from  the  German 
Baptist  Church,  namely,  Samuel  H.  Keiser  and  Mary  Keiser. 
William  Wineland,  Elizabeth  Wineland,  and  Ernie  Newcomer 
were  received  by  baptism.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting  Brother 
Swihart  called  the  little  band  together,  and  formed  them  into  a 
temporary  organization,  Swihart  being  chairman. 

In  the  spring  of  1889  they  secured  the  service  of  A.  M.  Riden- 
our,  who  commenced  a  revival  about  April  1,  and  closed  the  latter 
part  of  the  month.  On  April  29  the  church  was  reorganized,  with 
the  following  members :  G.  W.  Keiser,  Alta  Wertz,  Lydia  J.  Kei- 
ser, David  Martin,  Katie  Martin,  Hettie  Keiser,  Gertrude  Keiser, 
Sarah  E.  Conrad,  and  Mahlon  Wertz.  Samuel  Keiser  and  Mah- 
lon  Wertz  were  elected  deacons ;  Samuel  H.  Keiser,  clerk ;  and 
George  W.  Keiser,  treasurer. 

A.  M.  Ridenour  served  as  pastor  for  one  year  and  nine  months, 
when  he  was  asked  for  his  immediate  and  unconditional  resigna- 
tion. On  April  1,  1891,  Elder  Martin  Shively  became  pastor, 
and  served  two  years  faithfully. 

The  Brethren  Church  decided  to  build  a  house  of  worship.  On 
July  6,  1893,  m  a  business  meeting,  the  plans  and  specifications 
were  accepted,  and  a  house  was  then  erected,  thirty-four  by  fifty- 
two  feet,  costing  over  $1,700.  It  was  dedicated  by  S.  J.  Harrison 
and  Martin  Shively,  June  24,  1894,  and  the  articles  of  incorpora- 
tion were  taken  on  April  25,  1893. 

From  October,  1894,  P.  M.  Swinehart  was  pastor  about  eighteen 
months,  serving  faithfully.  In  April,  1896,  David  Rittenhouse 
was  secured  for  six  months,  after  which  J.  H.  Swihart  ministered 
once  each  month,  morning  and  evening.  On  July  15,  1897,  W.  A. 
Welty  began  serving,  and  continued  until  April  1,  1 899,  after 
which  time  S.  B.  Grisso  was  pastor. 


570  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

BUCKEYE    CITY,    OHIO. 

The  Brethren  Church  at  Buckeye  City,  Ohio,  was  organized  by 
J.  H.  Worst,  October  10,  1883. 

January  18,  1885,  a  new  church  was  dedicated,  by  R.  F.  Mallott, 
costing  $1,800.  Elder  Isaac  Ross  had  charge  of  the  church  for 
four  years. 

January,  1889,  J.  Allen  Miller  became  pastor,  and  continued  for 
two  years.  Isaac  Ross  again  took  charge  of  the  church  in  1892, 
and  J.  M.  Bowman  in  the  year  1893. 

S.  B.  Grisso  next  took  charge,  and  Harvey  Overholtzer  followed 
Brother  Grisso. 

In  the  year  1898  J.  L.  Kimmel  took  charge,  and  still  continues 
as  pastor.  The  church  numbers  one  hundred  fifteen  members,  and 
is  free  from  debt. 

CAMPBELL,    MICHIGAN. 

The  Campbell  Brethren  Church  is  located  in  Ionia  and  Barry 
Counties,  Michigan.  After  much  confusion  and  division,  pre- 
vious to  the  year  1887,  and  council  meeting  after  council  meeting 
in  the  German  Baptist  Church,  Anderson  Mote,  Eliza  Cain,  J.  G. 
Winey,  Mary  Winey,  Sister  Hollowpeter,  Lydia  Aspinwall,  and 
Sister  Cassner  formed  a  class  of  the  Brethren  Church.  This  was 
in  the  latter  part  of  December,  1887.  Isaac  Kilhefner,  of  Ash- 
land, Ohio,  officiated.  In  January,  1888,  Sisters  Agnes  Clum  and 
Sarah  Mote,  from  the  German  Baptists,  united  with  them,  and 
J.  G.  Winey  was  ordained  to  the  eldership,  C.  A.  Price  and  Isaac 
Kilhefner  officiating.  A  protracted  meeting  was  in  progress  at 
the  time,  in  the  old  Campbell  Brethren  Church,  during  which 
twenty-one  persons  professed  conversion.  On  January  19,  1888, 
eighteen  persons  were  baptized.  In  May,  eight,  and  in  June  five 
more  were  received  by  baptism.  On  June  16,  1888,  the  brethren 
had  their  first  love-feast,  at  the  residence  of  Brother  and  Sister 
Noah  Heiney.  I.  N.  Miller,  C.  A.  Price,  and  J.  G.  Winey  were 
present.  Miller  officiated.  June  17  George  Clum  was  elected 
deacon.  In  November,  1888,  at  a  protracted  meeting  in  Wood- 
land, twelve  persons  united  with  the  church.     On  January   14, 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  57  I 

1889,  four  persons  were  received  by  relation  from  the  German 
Baptists,  and  the  same  day  there  were  seventeen  persons  baptized. 
Thus  in  the  space  of  about  two  years,  by  May  12,  1889,  the  congre- 
gation had  increased  to  seventy-eight  members.  Brethren  Daniel 
Shopbell  and  Frederick  Fisher  were  elected  deacons  at  a  com- 
munion held  in  Brother  Fisher's  barn.  September  20,  1889,  the 
Michigan  state  conference  met  in  their  church.  Received  by 
baptism  up  to  date,  seventy-three  persons.      On   December   23, 

1890,  a  new  church  house  was  dedicated,  C.  A.  Price,  Walter 
Clark,  and  J.  G.  Winey  officiating.  January  22,  1893,  three  were 
received  by  baptism,  J.  G.  Winey  officiating.  The  next  day  two 
were  received  by  relation,  and  there  was  communion  in  the  even- 
ing, sixty  communing.  In  November,  1893,  they  held  a  series  of 
meetings  in  the  new  church,  E.  E.  Haskins  doing  most  of  the 
preaching,  and  seven  were  baptized.  Since  its  organization  one 
hundred  and  forty  persons  have  been  added  to  this  church  by 
baptism.  The  membership  at  the  present  time  is  about  seventy. 
No  pastor  secured  for  1900. 

CALIFORNIA. 

The  nuclei  of  the  church  in  California  were  not  driven  thither 
by  persecution,  as  wrere  those  who  formed  the  original  organiza- 
tion in  America.  They  went  west  to  grow  up  with  the  country, 
and  with  purely  business  motives,  or  with  intentions  still  more 
mercenary.  They,  however,  took  their  religion  and  their  good 
neighbors  with  them.  There  were  at  least  two  members  in  the 
state  previous  to  1856.  During  that  year  Brother  George  Wolfe, 
Junior,  landed  in  the  state,  and  sojourned  for  a  short  time  near 
Watsonville.  Then  he  located  at  Gilroy,  in  Santa  Clara  County. 
Here  the  first  organization  was  effected.  Brother  Wolfe  says 
there  were  two  members  in  the  vicinity  before  him,  but  I  did  not 
learn  their  names.  In  the  autumn  of  1853  six  persons  were 
received  by  baptism ;  five  arrived  by  way  of  the  plains ;  and 
Brother  Wolfe's  company  consisted  of  five  members,  making  an 
organization  of  eighteen  persons,  less  one,  who  died  about  the 
same  time.     His  name  was  Andrew  Jackson  Steffey,   formerly 


572  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

from  Maryland.  I  do  not  have  the  names  of  all  the  charter  mem- 
bers, but  those  who  signed  the  notice  of  the  organization  are 
George  Wolfe,  Jr.,  D.  T.  Wheelock,  Jacob  Wolfe,  T.  Q.  Caudill, 
T.  J.  Caudill,  and  James  Wood.  Jacob  Wolfe,  one  of  the  origi- 
nal members,  is  still  living  in  the  vicinity  of  Lathrop. 

The  first  communion  meeting  was  held  in  the  fall  of  1858,  in 
connection  with  the  organization  of  the  church,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Gilroy.  Elder  George  Wolfe  was  the  first  minister.  He  then 
signed  his  name  George  Wolfe,  Jr.,  I  presume  in  deference  to  his 
uncle,  whose  name  was  also  George,  and  who  was  a  prominent 
bishop. 

A  few  years  later,  or  about  i860,  Elder  Wolfe  removed  into 
San  Joaquin  Valley,  and  it  is  a  notable  fact  that  the  church  went 
with  him,  and  that  it  stood  by  him,  and  he  by  the  church,  until 
his  death. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  record  that  in  this  valley  is  the  only  place 
where  the  Tunker  Church  has  maintained  a  continued  existence 
from  the  date  above  mentioned,  and  that  it  is  now,  and  always  has 
been,  the  Brethren  Church. 

Elder  Henry  D.  Davy  is  credited  with  the  statement  that  the 
Brethren  Church  in  California  is  on  wheels.  Whether  the  asser- 
tion is  original  with  him  or  not  I  need  not  assert,  but  I  do  know 
that  it  is  true. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  church  has  existed  so  long,  it  has 
acquired  no  real  estate  worth  mentioning.  The  congregation  at 
Lathrop  has  been  worshiping  in  a  union  house,  to  which  she  has 
no  title.  The  congregation  at  Vernalis  has  lately  finished  a  small 
but  comfortable  house.  There  is  also  a  neat  little  church  at  Alta 
Monte,  but  the  members  have  all  removed  to  other  places,  except 
one  family. 

Camp-meetings  are  a  leading  feature  of  the  Brethren  Church 
in  California.  The  German  Baptists  have  never  taken  kindly  to 
the  camp-meetings,  although  their  visiting  ministers  have  written 
very  favorably  of  them  after  returning  to  their  homes  in  the  east. 

Further  particulars  may  be  gathered  from  the  chapters  on 
Southern  California  and  the  various  biographical  sketches  of  influ- 
ential workers. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  573 

CHAPARRAL,    CALIFORNIA. 

The  Chaparral  church  was  organized  April,  1879,  by  Elder 
George  Wolfe.  Members,  eleven ;  elder,  George  Wolfe,  of  Lath- 
rop;  minister,  Waldemar  Myers;  deacons,  Jacob  Shank,  Samuel 
Crewdson.  December,  1879,  C.  E.  Doty  and  George  Powell 
were  called  to  the  ministry.  April,  1881,  Elder  Stephen  Broad- 
hurst  was  called  to  the  oversight  of  the  church.  About  this  time 
there  were  thirty-five  members.  Then  they  began  to  move  away, 
and  many  died.     The  church  continued  until  1887. 

In  1888,  August  1,  Elder  Stephen  Broadhurst  departed  this  life. 
For  several  years  afterward  there  were  no  meetings  held.  Then 
Brother  J.  P.  Wolfe  preached  occasionally.  And  in  1894  Brother 
P.  S.  Garman  held  several  meetings.  In  April,  1895,  seven  mem- 
bers, the  only  ones  left,  met  at  Brother  Samuel  Crewdson's,  and 
decided  to  meet  once  a  month  and  hold  prayer  and  social  meeting. 
Brother  P.  S.  Garman  and  Brother  Wolfe  preached  occasionally, 
and,  in  1896,  Brother  Garman  held  regular  appointments.  In 
April,  1897,  the  church  was  reorganized  by  J.  P.  Wolfe  and  P.  S. 
Garman.  Brother  Wolfe  was  chosen  elder.  Jacob  Shank  was 
called  to  the  ministry,  and  Samuel  Crewdson  deacon.  June,  1897, 
Westley  Wimer  was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  in  May,  1898, 
Jacob  Shank  was  chosen  as  the  elder.  The  church  now  numbers 
eighteen  members. 

CHICAGO     MISSION. 

In  1896  missions  began  to  take  practical  form.  At  the  con- 
ference of  that  year,  held  at  Winona  Park,  Indiana,  on  Sunday 
afternoon,  August  30,  in  the  rally  of  the  young  people's  societies, 
after  stirring  addresses  by  several  persons,  a  collection  amount- 
ing to  something  over  $1,700  was  taken,  with  which  to  start  a 
mission  in  Chicago.  J.  D.  McFadeh,  then  secretary  of  the  general 
missionary  board,  was  set  apart  to  take  charge  of  the  work.  At 
the  Illiokota  conference,  held  at  Enon  church,  Iowa,  October 
13-16,  same  year,  Sister  Sadie  A.  Gibbons  was  set  apart  by  the 
laying  on  of  hands  as  assistant  pastor  of  the  work  in  Chicago. 
About  $200  was  subscribed  toward  her  expenses. 


cja  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

On  the  first  Sunday  in  November,  1896,  the  first  Brethren  mis- 
sion was  opened  in  Chicago,  at  384  Southwestern  Ave.,  in  charge 
of  J.  D.  McFaden  and  Sister  Gibbons.  The  work  continued  with 
varied  success.  McFaden  remained  in  charge  until  May,  1898. 
Then  Sister  Gibbons  carried  on  the  work  alone,  until  November, 
when  J.  C.  Talley  moved  to  the  city  and  took  the  oversight. 
Sister  Gibbons  has  remained  faithfully  at  the  work  the  church 
gave  her  to  do,  and  whatever  success  has  been  attained  must  be 
largely  credited  to  her  untiring  efforts  and  zeal.  The  mission 
has  since  moved  to  Oakley  Avenue,  and,  after  six  months  there, 
was  moved  to  940  West  Van  Buren  Street,  where  the  work  is  now 
carried  on.  Members  have  been  gathered  in,  though  much  scat- 
tered throughout  the  city,  to  the  number  of  about  thirty-five, 
though  more  than  the  above  number  have  been  baptized.  The 
mission  maintains  a  Sunday-school,  regular  preaching  twice  every 
Lord's  day,  and  a  junior  work  for  the  children.  The  mission  from 
the  first  did  much  work,  which  might  be  classed  as  charity,  among 
the  sick  and  poor.  Clothing  and  food  that  are  sent  in  are  distrib- 
uted among  the  needy.  This  work  and  the  greater  part  of  the  pas- 
toral work  has  had  the  active  oversight  of  Sister  Gibbons,  who  has 
made  for  herself  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  many  people  who  have 
come  in  contact  with  the  mission  in  Chicago.  Her  ministry  from 
the  pulpit  has  also  been  very  effective,  and  blessed  with  results. 

COWANSHANNOC,    PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  Cowanshannoc  congregation  at  the  time  of  the  division 
consisted  of  about  fifty  members.  When  the  annual  meeting 
elders'  committee  met,  about  thirty-six  members  were  present, 
eleven  of  whom  declared  themselves  with  the  elders  and  the  annual 
meeting,  while  twenty-five  declared  themselves  the  Brethren 
Church,  holding  the  gospel  of  .Christ  as  their  only  law  in  religion 
and  church  government.  Among  the  latter  were  some  of  the 
oldest  members  and  officials,  who  were  faithful  more  than  forty 
years,  and  served  fifty  years,  but  were  by  the  committee  declared 
expelled.  Of  these  a  number  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus.  Some 
are  still  left,  who  are  striving  to  walk  in  the  old  pathway  that 
leads  to  glory. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  575 

There  are  four  congregations  in  Armstrong  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, owning  in  fee  simple  five  churches,  and  having  a  member- 
ship aggregating  about  two  hundred.  There  are  at  present  (1900) 
in  the  county  four  elders,  one  of  them,  Robert  Whitacre,  nearly 
seventy-nine  years  old.  The  others  are  respectively  D.  J.  Hetric, 
Arthur  Hetric,  and  J.  B.  Wampler.  The  deacons  are  Brethren 
G.  W.  Cravener,  J.  P.  Beck,  W.  K.  Rareigh,  H.  C.  Bowser,  Alex- 
ander Bowser,  Alexander  Cousins,  J.  A.  Bowser,  Emanuel  French, 
James  A.  John,  and  William  McHadden. 

DARWIN,  INDIANA. 

The  Brethren  Church  of  Darwin,  Carroll  County,  Indiana,  is 
the  outcome  of  a  revival  meeting  held  in  the  M.  E.  Church  of 
that  place  by  Brother  R.  R.  Teeter,  in  February,  1897,  resulting 
in  twenty-nine  conversions  in  three  weeks,  when  the  longer  use 
of  the  house  was  refused. 

In  April  following  the  congregation  again  assembled,  in  a 
county  schoolhouse  one  mile  from  Darwin,  and  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Brother  Teeter  organized  the  Darwin  Brethren  Church, 
with  forty-two  charter  members.  Brother  Teeter  was  chosen  as 
pastor  and  elder,  and  served  the  church  until  he  removed  to 
Milledgeville,  Illinois. 

Almost  immediately  after  the  organization  a  movement  was 
started  to  build  a  church  house.  Services  were  held  in  the 
schoolhouse  until  January  23,  1898,  when  a  nice,  large  church 
was  dedicated  to  the  Lord  by  the  Darwin  brethren.  Present 
number  of  members,  about  sixty-five.  A  peculiarity  of  this 
church  was  that  for  quite  a  while  there  were  more  males  than 
females  in  its  membership.     Wm.  W.  Summers  is  present  pastor. 

DUNLAPS,     INDIANA. 

Located  at  Dunlaps,  about  midway  between  Goshen  and  Elk- 
hart, in  Elkhart  County.  This  house  was  built  as  a  congrega- 
tional Brethren  Church.  About  two  hundred  people  have  at  some 
time  held  membership  in  this  congregation,  and  other  churches 
have  been  built  by  the  influence  of  the  members  who  have  gone  out 


576  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

from  this  church.  Some  have  died,  others  moved  away,  and  some 
have  fallen  from  grace,  but  there  yet  remain  some  of  the  truest, 
bravest,  and  best. 

A.  R.  Bemenderfer  is  their  present  pastor  and  elder.  Deacons, 
N.  A.  Frame  and  F.  U.  Cline;  F.  U.  Cline,  secretary;  Charles 
Dunmire,  treasurer. 

Note. — See  also  "Brethren  Church  in  Northern  Indiana." 

EDNA    MILLS,    INDIANA. 

Location,  Edna  Mills,  Clinton  County,  Indiana,  and  was  organ- 
ized by  Elder  J.  H.  Swihart,  in  January,  1883.  The  number 
entering  the  organization  was  six,  viz.,  Wm.  Cripe,  J.  B.  Metzer 
and  wife,  David  HufTord  and  wife,  and  one  person  unknown  to 
the  writer.     The  present  number  of  communicants  is  thirty-five. 

This  church  was  among  the  first  organized  by  the  brethren  in 
Indiana.  While  never  strong  numerically,  it  has  filled  a  very  use- 
ful place  in  upholding  the  gospel-alone  principle  in  the  midst  of 
great  opposition.  Mount  Pleasant  church  was  begun  as  a  mission, 
supported  by  the  Edna  Mills  brethren.  Three  able  and  useful 
ministers  of  the  church  have  come,  directly  or  indirectly,  through 
this  congregation,  viz.,  J.  Allen  Miller,  Martin  Shively,  and  L.  A. 
Hazlett.  This  congregation  is  preparing  to  build  a  house  of  wor- 
ship during  the  summer  of  1900.  Present  pastor,  W.  J.  H.  Bau- 
man. 

ELKHART    CITY,     INDIANA. 

The  Elkhart  City  Brethren  Church  was  organized  by  Elder  J. 
H.  Swihart,  in  1889,  with  a  membership  of  thirty-three.  They 
bought  the  United  Brethren  Church,  and  have  a  neat  little  house 
of  worship.  A.  R.  Bemenderfer  is  their  elder  and  pastor.  They 
now  have  a  membership  of  sixty-five.  Deacons,  David  Leonard, 
Henry  Landis,  Hiram  Bear ;  Mary  Felthouse,  secretary ;  Nona 
Wilson,  treasurer. 

ENON,    IOWA. 

Location,  Orange  township.  Black  Hawk  County,  Iowa.  The 
causes  that  brought  about  this  organization  were  substantially  the 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL. 


577 


same  as  those  of  similar  churches.  The  initial  steps  were  taken 
at  a  council  meeting  of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  held  at 
Orange  Grove  schoolhouse,  August  21,  1883.  The  proceedings  of 
the  meeting  are  not  on  record,  from  which,  perhaps,  no  one  is  the 
loser;  but  there  are  still  living  witnesses,  from  whom  we  learn 
that  there  were  the  usual  criminations  and  recriminations,  with 
the  attendant  loss  of  brotherly  affection,  and  that  the  leading  sub- 


ENON    CHURCH 


jects  discussed  were  those  called  "the  dress  question,"  "the 
mandatory  decision,"  and  the  "order"  generally.  The  day's  labors 
ended  in  an  agreement  to  disagree,  but  in  no  official  action  of 
separation. 

The  second  step  taken  was  a  meeting  at  the  same  place  on  Sep- 
tember 20  following.  From  the  action  taken  at  this  council,  it  is 
evident  that  the  former  meeting  was  considered  an  indication,  if 
not  a  positive  decision,  that  conservative  and  progressive  brethren 

37  « 


578  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

could  no  longer  dwell  together  in  peace,  as  steps  were  taken  look- 
ing to  an  amicable  division  of  church  property.  This  was  effected 
by  the  German  Baptists  taking  the  large  building  known  as  the 
South  Waterloo  church,  and  the  brethren  were  given  as  their  por- 
tion the  house  located  on  the  G.  W.  Strayer  farm,  two  miles  west 
of  Hudson. 

August  27,  1883,  the  progressive  members  of  the  church  met  in 
council,  and  organized  into  a  body  of  Christian  worshipers,  adopt- 
ing the  gospel  of  Christ  as  their  creed  and  discipline.  Brethren 
Samuel  Beekly,  Silas  Klingaman,  and  M.  M.  Deitz  were  appointed 
trustees ;  and  on  the  29th  the  church  property  above  referred  to 
was  conveyed  to  the  said  trustees  for  the  Brethren  Church. 
Brother  John  Nicholson  was  the  first  pastor;  Jacob  P.  Lichty, 
Elijah  Showalter,  and  Paul  Cobaugh,  the  deacons. 

It  was  decided  to  move  the  Strayer  house  into  the  village  of 
Hudson,  and  Samuel  Cain,  Joseph  Forney,  William  Hildebrand, 
M.  M.  Deitz,  and  A.  B.  Horner  were  appointed  a  committee  of 
removal  and  reconstruction.  Eli  Hoover,  C.  Stoy,  Samuel  Bick- 
ley,  Silas  Klingaman,  and  Josiah  Lichty  were  appointed  a  build- 
ing committee  to  build  a  meeting-house  in  Orange  Township. 
Both  houses  were  completed  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  in  due 
time  and  form  were  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God.  It  has  been 
frequently  related  by  the  charter  members  of  the  church  that  the 
best  attended  and  most  spiritual  and  blessed  prayer-meetings  they 
ever  had  were  those  held  at  their  homes  during  the  winter  and 
spring  the  churches  were  in  course  of  building. 

Until  the  spring  of  1893  En  on  and  Hudson  and  Waterloo  com- 
posed one  congregation,  and  were  served  by  the  same  pastor. 
During  that  period  the  following  ministers  had  charge  of  the 
church  for  longer  or  shorter  terms  :  John  Nicholson,  S.  H.  Bashor, 
F.  A.  Hendricks,  J.  H.  Swihart,  Henry  Wise,  E.  L.  Hildebrand, 
S.  P.  Stevens,  H.  R.  Holsinger,  and  S.  J.  Harrison.  At  that 
time  it  was  deemed  prudent  to  form  two  congregations,  which 
was  amicably  accomplished ;  and  henceforth  we  have  the  Enon 
and  Hudson  churches.  The  former  embraces  the  city  of  Water- 
loo, where  the  church  has  lately  secured  a  favorably-located  lot, 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL. 


579 


on  which,  doubtless,  the  first  year  of  the  twentieth  century  will 
witness  a  house  of  worship,  which  will  be  an  honor  to  God,  whom 
we  serve,  and  also  to  the  church. 

During  the  fifteen  years  of  the  existence  of  the  congregation 
three  hundred  and  twenty-five  names  have  been  upon  its  roll  of 


WATERLOO    CHURCH. 


membership.  Present  number,  about  one  hundred  and  sixty. 
Deacons,  Jacob  P.  Lichty,  Paul  Cobaugh,  D.  J.  Lichty,  S.  B. 
Bickley,  F.  H.  McCartney,  and  S.  P.  Hoover.  The  church  has 
three  flourishing  prayer-meetings,  two  in  the  country  and  one  in 
the  city.  The  former  meet  each  Wednesday  evening,  and  the 
latter  on  Thursday  evening,  during  the  whole  year.     No  part  of 


580  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

the  church  service  contributes  more  to  the  spiritual  uplifting  and 
growth  of  the  membership  than  these  prayer-meetings. 

The  Sisters'  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  gives  the  ladies  of 
the  church  an  opportunity  for  organized  effort  for  charitable  and 
other  needed  work.  The  society  is  in  excellent  working  order, 
and  through  its  tireless  efforts  the  money  was  secured  for  pur- 
chasing the  church  lot  in  the  city  of  Waterloo. 

The  young  people  have  organized  a  King's  Children  Society, 
which  meets  every  Sunday  evening  immediately  before  church 
service.  They  raised  a  snug  sum  of  money  for  missions  last  year. 
A  live  junior  society  meets  in  the  primary  room  each  week. 

There  are  three  standing  committees  in  the  church, — on  poor 
and  sick,  on  preaching,  and  on  finance.  The  object  of  the  first 
is  indicated  by  its  name.  To  assist  it  in  accomplishing  its  pur- 
pose, two  sermons  a  year  are  preached  by  the  pastor  on  some 
phase  of  its  work,  and  collections  are  taken  for  its  benefit.  The 
committee  on  preaching  is  the  assistant  of  the  pastor  in  securing 
supplies  in  his  absence,  and  considers  such  subjects  as  pertain  to 
the  pastorate.  In  case  of  a  vacancy,  they  recommend  a  pastor. 
The  last  is  the  business  end  of  the  church,  and  stands  between 
the  preacher  and  the  people. 

Preaching  services  are  held  each  Sunday  morning  and  even- 
ing, and  an  evergreen  Sunday-school  has  been  sustained  for  years. 

The  members  of  this  church  are  mostly  Pennsylvania  Dutch, 
who  came  to  the  country  thirty  or  more  years  ago.  They  are 
industrious,  sober,  and  thrifty  people.  Their  homes  are  above  the 
average  of  those  in  country  districts  in  point  of  comfort  and  Chris- 
tian hospitality. 

Brother  J.  L.  Gillen  is  the  present  pastor,  and  has  been  for  the 
past  four  years. 

FAIR    HAVEN,    OHIO. 

The  name  of  the  church,  Fair  Haven.  Location,  Chester  Town- 
ship, Wayne  County,  Ohio.  Organized  in  the  latter  part  of 
August,  1872.  Number  of  charter  members,  about  forty-five. 
The  elder  in  charge  at  the  time  of  the  organization,  P.  J.  Brown ; 
assistants,  H.  S.  Jacobs  and  William  Keifer ;  present  pastor  (1899, 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  58 1 

ad  interim),  Elder  P.  J.  Brown.  Present  number  of  members, 
about  seventy.  Church  property,  a  good  house,  thirty-two  by 
fifty,  in  good  condition,  with  steeple  and  bell,  well  furnished ;  built 
in  1883  ;  cost,  $3,000. 

FAIRVTEWr,    INDIANA. 

Location,  seven  miles  west  of  South  Bend.  Organized  October 
27,  1885,  with  fifty  charter  members.  First  pastor,  J.  M.  Rittgers. 
Present  membership,  one  hundred  and  five.  Church  property, 
$2,100.  Sisters'  Society  numbers  twenty-five.  King's  Children 
Society,  twenty.  Sunday-school,  one  hundred.  David  August- 
ine, elder ;  C.  F.  Yoder,  pastor. 

FAIRVIEW,  PENNSYLVANIA. 

In  November,  1896,  in  an  old,  dilapidated  church,  at  Cypher, 
Bedford  County,  Pennsylvania,  it  appeared  that  much  good  might 
be  done  in  that  community  if  the  people  had  the  pure  gospel 
preached  to  them.  After  a  few  sermons  four  persons  were 
received  into  fellowship,  in  the  early  part  of  1897.  Then  the  .old 
church  was  burned.  These  members  were  within  the  bounds  of 
the  New  Enterprise  congregation,  which  is  located  ten  miles  west. 
Having  no  place  in  which  to  preach,  a  tent  meeting  was  arranged 
for.  After  earnest  labor,  with  a  faith  that  will  accept  no  denial, 
the  tent  was  finally  spread,  and,  on  June  17,  1897,  the  gospel  ban- 
ner once  more  unfurled.  It  was  located  two  miles  west  of  the 
former  battle-ground. 

Brother  I.  D.  Bowman  came  to  help  for  ten  days.  The  meet- 
ings were  kept  up  until  there  were  forty-five  conversions.  Then 
they  organized  the  Fairview  church,  with  forty-three  members. 
The  first  business'  meeting  was  held  on  July  19,  1897.  Trustees 
were  elected,  and  a  building  committee  was  appointed  and  author- 
ized to  secure  grounds  on  which  to  erect  a  house  of  worship.  Fol- 
lowing was  the  committee:  Samuel  A.  Price,  secretary;  Watson 
Cessna,  treasurer,  and  George  Zimmerman.  Trustees,  John 
Steele,  Abe  Balman,  George  Zimmerman. 

Ground   was   secured  from  a  man  in  the  community.     The 


582  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

brethren  and  friends,  being  eager  to  have  a  place  of  worship,  soon 
built  a  substantial  foundation  thirty  by  forty-four  feet.  After  this 
was  done,  the  man  who  donated  the  ground  refused  to  give  the 
title.  They  talked  and  prayed,  but  apparently  to  no  avail.  Finally 
God  raised  up  a  Moses  in  the  persons  of  the  Whitehill  Brothers, 
Edward  and  Lewis,  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  They 
purchased  the  entire  tract  of  land,  and  then  gave  the  title ;  and 
the  names  of  those  noble  brethren  are  connected  with  our  history. 
The  church  was  dedicated  September  28,  1898,  Eugene  M. 
Smith  and  E.  E.  Haskins  conducting  the  service. 

FALLS    CITY,     NEBRASKA. 

The  church  at  Silver  Creek,  four  miles  north  of  Falls  City,  was 
transformed  from  a  German  Baptist  to  a  Brethren  Church  some 
time  during  the  year  1885.  Samuel  Stump  was  the  elder  in 
charge  when  I  was  called  to  serve  the  church  as  her  pastor,  in 
October,  1896.  The  church  had  been  conducted  on  progressive 
lines  before  I  commenced  my  pastoral  duties,  and  I  found  the 
progressives,  under  Brother  Stump  and  his  fellow-laborers,  Wm. 
Forney,  Lafayette  Messier,  and  Jacob  Gebhart,  occupying  the 
church  every  alternate  Sunday,  with  the  conservatives,  with  Elder 
Berkeybile  as  their  preacher,  conducting  Sunday-school  and 
preaching  services  on  the  Sunday  not  occupied  by  us.  The  con- 
servatives claimed  we  had  no  right  to  the  church  property,  and 
during  my  second  year  brought  suit  in  the  District  Court  to  drive 
us  out.  They  lost  their  case  first  before  the  District  Court,  and 
afterward  before  the  Supreme  Court,  to  which  they  appealed. 

The  number  of  members  in  this  church  who  enrolled  with  the 
brethren  in  the  fall  of  1886,  when  the  lines  between  progressives 
and  conservatives  were  definitely  drawn,  was  sixty. 

During  the  two  years  of  my  ministry  at  this  place  the  church 
increased  in  numbers,  so  that  at  the  time  of  leaving  there  were  one 
hundred  and  twenty  members  enrolled. 

The  court  had  not  only  refused  to  grant  the  exclusive  use  of 
the  house  to  the  annual  meeting  party,  but  had  granted  the  peti- 
tion for  partition  by  the  brethren,  and  the  house  was  sold,  the 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  583 

brethren  buying  the  half  interest  they  did  not  claim  as  their  own. 
And  the  house  was  remodeled  and  improved. 

This  congregation  has  also  now  a  fine  new  house  in  Falls  City, 
and  is  maintaining  appointments  both  in  the  city  and  in  Silver 
Creek.  They  have  had  for  their  pastors  since  I  moved  away,  F. 
A.  Hendricks,  John  H.  Burnworth,  J.  R.  Keller,  S.  J.  Harrison, 
and  their  present  pastor,  J.  E.  Braker.  E.  L.  Yoder. 

GLADE    RUN,    PA. 

The  Glade  Run  congregation,  Armstrong  County,  Pennsylvania, 
after  its  organization,  was  served  for  a  number  of  years  by  Elders 
Joseph  Shoemaker,  James  Toy,  David  Eshelman,  John  Wise,  and 
others,  up  to  the  time  when  Elder  J.  B.  Wampler  took  charge  in 
1876.  He  preached  his  first  sermon  in  the  "John  meeting-house," 
on  February  13,  1876.  He  continued  about  two  weeks,  and  bap- 
tized twenty-three  converts.  This  was  the  first  revival  meeting  he 
held.  On  his  way  homeward  he  preached  one  sermon  in  the  Glade 
Run  meeting-house.  This  congregation  then  engaged  him  for  one 
year,  and  he  continued  his  services  consecutively  for  thirteen  years. 

During  the  early  years  of  this  service  the  district  was  divided 
into  two  congregations,  namely,  Glade  Run  and  Brush  Valley. 
In  1876  the  numbers  were  about  sixty.  When  the  annual  meeting 
committee  caused  a  division,  the  number  was  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty.  Of  these  about  forty  declared  themselves  of  the  annual 
meeting  party,  while  the  others,  among  them  some  of  the  older 
members  and  officials,  declared  themselves  the  Brethren  Church, 
acknowledging  the  gospel  of  Christ  as  their  only  law  in  religion, 
and  they  do  still  so  hold. 

The  Glade  Run  church  was  used  in  common  for  some  time  after 
the  division,  when  the  German  Baptists  entered  into  litigation  of 
the  property.  After  the  litigation  the  Brethren  Church  engaged 
Brother  Wampler  to  assist  in  soliciting  funds  and  to  aid  in  con- 
structing a  new  edifice,  which  was  successfully  accomplished. 
Several  years  later,  during  one  of  their  meetings,  the  old  house 
was  consumed  by  fire. 


584  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

GRETNA,    OHIO. 

Location,  five  miles  west  of  Bellefontaine,  Ohio.  This  organi- 
zation was  effected  through  the  Ohio  Mission  Board,  as  a  branch 
of  the  Bear  Creek  church.  Brother  Isaac  Kilhefner,  acting  in 
behalf  of  the  Ohio  Mission  Board,  met  a  number  of  the  brethren, 
sisters,  and  friends  at  the  house  of  Brother  P.  J.  Deetrick,  January 
22,  1 89 1,  and  effected  an  organization,  with  sixteen  members. 
They  proceeded  at  once  to  erect  a  frame  church  house.  Brother 
Kilhefner  continued  as  pastor  until  his  death,  which  occurred  July 
2,  1892.  He  was  succeeded  by  Brother  A.  J.  Baughman,  who 
served  them  until  April  1,  1895.  At  that  date  M.  S.  White  was 
called,  who  is  the  present  pastor  (1899).  Membership,  fifty. 
Services  every  two  weeks.  They  are  well  attended,  and  the  inter- 
est is  good.  They  have  an  evergreen  Sunday-school  and  a  Sisters' 
Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  all  doing  good  work. 

HOMER,    OHIO. 

The  Homer  church,  Ohio,  is  located  in  Medina  County.  It  was 
organized  in  1882,  without  any  regular  pastor.  Brother  Edward 
Mason  preached  here  every  three  weeks  until  the  tall  of  1883, 
when  H.  S.  Jacobs  became  pastor,  which  position  he  has  occupied 
ever  since.  During  these  sixteen  years  he  never  failed  to  fill  his 
appointments.  There  are  twenty-one  charter  members.  The 
present  membership  is  seventy-five.  The  church  property  con- 
sists of  one  house  in  good  repair. 

ILLIOKOTA    CONFERENCE. 

This  conference  was  organized  at  Enon,  Iowa,  November  20, 
1890.  H.  R.  Holsinger  was  elected  chairman,  and  E.  E.  Haskins, 
secretary.  The  greater  part  of  the  two  days'  session  was  taken  up 
in  formulating  a  system  of  evangelization,  which  is  still  in  opera- 
tion, with  some  amendments.  It  provides  for  the  election  of  a 
missionary  board  consisting  of  three  members.  The  first  board 
elected  was  H.  R.  Holsinger,  president ;  J.  B.  Lichty,  treasurer ; 
and  Eli  Hoover,  secretary.  It  also  provided  for  the  election  of  a 
district  evangelist.     S.  H.  Bashor  was  the  first  evangelist. 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  585 

The  conference  for  1891  was  again  held  at  Enon  church.  The 
sum  of  $302.46  had  been  raised  the  past  year,  nearly  all  of  which 
was  raised  at  Enon  at  the  conference  of  1890.  The  number  of 
accessions  reported  by  the  evangelist  was  one  hundred  twelve. 
The  treasurer  reported  a  surplus  of  $129.46. 

In  1892  the  conference  was  held  at  Lanark,  Illinois,  October  3 
and  4.  S.  J.  Harrison,  chairman,  and  Horace  Yoder,  secretary. 
J.  H.  Swihart  had  been  the  evangelist.  S.  H.  Bashor  and  Z.  T. 
Livengood  also  had  done  some  evangelistic  work.  The  number 
of  accessions  reported  for  the  year  was  seventy-nine.  The  treas- 
urer reported  a  surplus  of  $197.77. 

The  conference  for  1893  was  held  at  Hudson,  Iowa.  Z.  T. 
Livengood,  chairman ;  Mrs.  Etta  Harrison,  secretary.  The  pub- 
lishing interests,  the  Sunday-school  work,  and  the  King's  Chil- 
dren Society  were  encouraged.  No  evangelist  was  elected  at  this 
conference. 

The  conference  for  1894  was  held  at  Milledgeville,  Illinois,  J.  C. 
Talley,  chairman,  and  Miss  Emma  K.  Lichty,  secretary.  Methods 
and  practical  ways  were  discussed.  The  King's  Children  work 
reported  good  results. 

The  conference  for  1895  was  ne^  at  Brooklyn,  Iowa.  Z.  T. 
Livengood,  chairman,  and  Harlin  Hollis,  secretary. 

In  1896  the  conference  met  at  Enon,  Iowa.  E.  L.  Hildebrand, 
chairman,  and  Harlin  Hollis,  secretary.  This  conference  was 
remarkable  for  the  missionary  spirit  manifested.  J.  L.  Gillen  was 
elected  evangelist,  but  declined  to  serve. 

The  conference  for  1897  was  hdcl  in  Chicago,  August  20-23.  J. 
L.  Gillen,  chairman;  Harlin  Hollis,  secretary.  Sunday-school, 
young  people's,  and  missionary  work  received  special  attention. 
Sadie  Gibbons,  assistant  pastor  of  the  Chicago  mission,  gave  inter- 
esting details  of  her  work  in  the  city,  among  the  poor  and  dissi- 
pated, in  her  house-to-house  visitations.  J.  O.  Talley  was  unan- 
imously elected  district  evangelist. 

The  conference  for  1898  met  at  Garrison,  Iowa,  October  4-6.  J. 
O.  Talley,  chairman ;  E.  L.  Hildebrand,  secretary ;  Etta  Lichty, 
assistant  secretary.     The  district  evangelist  reported  having  vis- 


586 


HISTORY     OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


INDIANA  STATE  STATISTICS. 


NAMES 

OF 

CHURCHES. 

1 

| 

i 

a 

1 

Us 
§ 

"5 

as 

£ 

All  Moneys  for  All  Pur- 
poses. 

r- 

M 
•g 

a 
| 

PASTORS' 
NAMES. 

i.   Milford 

O 

I 

I 
O 

I 
I 

% 

I 
I 
I 
I 

I 

$3,5<» 

1,900 

1,200 

3OO 

8O0 

800 

161 

202 
64 
51 
74 
56 

40 
22 
50 

37 

49 
33 
60 

39 
217 

44 
149 

32 

41 
94 

120 

108 

$500 
350 

$706.45 

20 
20 
5 

5 

G.  W.  Rench 

C.  F.  Yoder 

T.  H.  Plue 

19 

32 

100 

D.  A.  Hopkins 
A.  S.  Menaugh 
C.  H.  Marks 

7.  Union  Salem  (Nap- 

8 
5 
5 
11 

4 

14 

7 

30 

6 

15 

7 

L.  A.  Hazlett 

800 
700 
800 

1,000 

9 

13 

44^ 
100 
100 

100 

250 

70 

275 

75 
250 

150 
150 
300 
120 

160 

75 

150 
240 

C.  H.  Marks 

9.   Elkhart 

10.  Dunlaps 

11.  Pleasa  nt    View 

(Goshen) 

A.  R.  Bemenderter 

13 
23 
15 

77 

20 

37 
24 
140 

A.  S.  Menaugh 

B.  F.  Flory 

A.  S.  Menaugh 
L.  S.  Bauman 

D.  H.  Hopkins 
D.  H.  Flora 

300 

900 
2,000 

700 
100 

1,400 

400 

2,100 

800 

1,200 

15.  Roann 

16.  New  Enterprise 

17.  North  Manchester.. 

18.  Poplar  Grove  (Som- 

erset)  

19.  College  ( Red  B'dge) 

8 

24 

W.  W.  Summers 

"3 

103 

85 
45 

63 

in 
140 
131 
30 

35 
25 
86 
34 
20 

59 
102 
48 
75 
63 
74 
85 
90 
26 

85 
101 

33 
35 

80 
68 

6 
15 

D.  A.  Hopkins 
J.  M.  Fox 

22.   Mt.  Pleasant  (Cam- 

21 
40 

45 
7i 

J.  M.  Fox 
L.  W.  Ditch 

24.   Maple    Grove 

(Eaton) 

I 
I 

1,000 

1,500 

120 

3.500 

L.  W.  Ditch 

26    Fairview  (S.  Bend) 
27.    So.  Bend  (So.  Bend) 

W.  D.  Furry 
W.  D.  Furry 
Jesse  Calvert 

29.   Pleasant  View  (Au- 

I 

1,200 

4 

L.  O.  Hubbai 

10 
26 

15 
50 

I 

1,000 

150 

7 

W.  W.  Summers 

33-   West  Union 

34.    Burns'  Chapel 

35-   New  Highland 

I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 

IOO 

IOO 
1,200 

700 
I,600 
1,000 
2,000 
1,500 

800 
I,200 
1,000 

100 
100 
120 
72 
150 

6 
12 

12 

5 

L.  O.  Hubbard 

38 

64 

L.  O.  Hubbard 

D.  A.  Hopkins 

37.    Flora 

24 
30 
30 
43 
25 

51 
33 
44 
42 
65 

J.  M.  Fox 

W.  W.  Summers 

39.  Salem  (Burlington) 

40.  Corinth  (12  Mile)... 

41.  Bethel  (Berne) 

J.  M.  Fox 

200 
150 

12 

Wm.  H.  Miller 

L.  W.  Ditch 

43-   St.  Paul  (Roanoke). 
44.   Brighton 

215 
260 

W.  J.  H.  Bauman 

BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  587 

ited  several  of  the  small  churches  which  had  not  pastors,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  a  pastor  for  Aurelia,  Iowa.  The  missionary 
work  was  earnestly  discussed. 

The  conference  for  1809  was  held  at  Leon,  Iowa,  October  10-12. 
R.  R.  Teeter,  chairman ;  J.  O.  Talley,  vice-chairman ;  J.  L.  Gillen, 
secretary ;  W.  J.  Field,  assistant  secretary ;  and  C.  Rowland, 
treasurer.  The  district  evangelist  reported  several  accessions, 
and  nearly  all  the  churches  which  had  no  pastors  were  visited.  A 
pastor  was  located  at  Brooklyn,  Iowa.  Money  paid  for  district 
work,  $226.13.  J.  O.  Talley  was  reelected  district  evangelist. 
It  was  decided  to  hold  the  next  conference  at  Montour,  Iowa. 

The  Sisters'  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  has  maintained  a 
district  organization  since  1893,  until  the  present  time.  The  first 
district  organization  of  the  King's  Children  Society  was  also 
effected  at  said  conference  of  1893,  and  has  been  represented  at 
each  annual  conference. 

At  the  Lanark  conference  of  1892  the  following  missionary 
board  was  elected :  Z.  T.  Livengood,  president ;  Eli  Hoover,  sec- 
retary ;  D.  S.  Lichty,  treasurer.  This  board  was  successively 
reelected  each  year,  and  is  in  office  at  the  present  time. 

king's  children   society. 

At  the  general  conference  of  the  Brethren  Church,  held  at  War- 
saw, Indiana,  1893,  the  King's  Children  Society  of  Milledgeville, 
Illinois,  presented  a  memorial,  which  was  received,  and  the  soci- 
ety given  national  recognition,  and  the  following  board  of  direc- 
tors was  appointed :  J.  O.  Talley,  president ;  C.  F.  Yoder,  secre- 
tary ;  Emma  K.  Lichty  (now  Puterbaugh),  treasurer.  The  board 
of  directors  formulated  a  constitution  and  by-laws  for  the  soci- 
eties. The  new  constitution  was  largely  adopted,  and  many 
societies  were  organized  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  although 
the  name  and  constitution  were  not  universally  accepted ;  but  the 
movement  was  effective  in  bringing  the  societies  in  touch  with 
each  other,  and  uniting  their  efforts. 

From  August,  1893,  to  August,  1895,  tne  number  of  local  soci- 
eties had  increased  from  some  half  dozen  to  about  a  hundred,  with 


588  HISTORY    OF    fHE    TUNKERS. 

an  aggregate  membership  of  about  4,000.  In  December,  1893,  the 
president  of  the  societies  began  the  publication  of  a  paper  called 
the  King's  Children,  which  was  published  monthly.  J.  Allen 
Miller  prepared  the  notes,  and  Mrs.  Laura  Robinson  prepared  the 
junior  lessons.  The  paper  succeeded  quite  well,  and  was  helpful 
in  concentrating  the  work.  The  directors  published  helps,  topic 
cards,  committee  cards,  and  prepared  a  metal  badge,  with  the 
design  of  an  anchor,  which  was  largely  adopted  by  the  societies. 
The  profits  from  the  sale  of  requisites  enabled  the  directors  in  1895 
to  appropriate  the  sum  of  $100  to  the  book  and  tract  work  of  the 
church.  At  the  general  conference  of  1894  the  following  direc- 
tors were  elected :  J.  O.  Talley,  president ;  Mary  A.  Felthouse, 
secretary;  Emma  K.  Puterbaugh,  treasurer.  This  board  con- 
tinued in  office  by  reelection  each  year,  until  the  general  confer- 
ence of  1898.  It  is  due  the  young  people's  societies  of  the 
church  to  say  that  it  was  in  session  of  the  King's  Children 
Society  of  the  general  conference  of  1896  that  the  missionary 
spirit  of  the  church  took  the  initial  step  in  founding  the  first  mis- 
sion under  the  general  missionary  board  of  the  church. 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  August  30,  1896,  at  a  King's  Children 
Society  rally,  at  Winona  Park,  Indiana,  a  missionary  offering  was 
taken,  amounting  to  $1,750  in  cash  and  pledges.  At  the  general 
conference  of  1899  the  societies  pledged  the  sum  of  $500  to  the 
General  Missionary  Board. 

In  December,  1897,  at  the  close  of  the  fourth  year  of  publication 
of  the  King's  Children  paper,  it  was  decided  to  discontinue  the 
paper,  and  to  open  for  them  a  department  in  the  Brethren  Evan- 
gelist. At  the  conference  of  1898  Brother  Talley  retired  from  the 
presidency  of  the  board  of  directors,  and  Brother  D.  W.  Furry 
was  elected  president,  with  Mary  A.  Felthouse,  secretary,  and 
Emma  K.  Puterbaugh,  treasurer,  reelected.  In  1899  the  above 
board  was  reelected,  and,  under  their  management,  the  societies 
are  doing  efficient  work. 

LANARK,     ILLINOIS. 

The  Lanark  church  grew  out  of  the  Bethlehem  church,  which 
was  organized  July    14,    1884,   H.   R.   Holsinger  presiding.     In 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL. 


589 


December  of  1884  D.  S.  Lichty  and  wife,  W.  S.  Herrington  and 
wife,  Samuel  Swigart  and  daughter,  Rettie  and  Carrie  Wagner, 
all  from  the  vicinity  of  Lanark,  united  with  the  Brethren  Church 
at  Bethlehem.  At  various  times  others  united  from  the  Lanark 
territory,  until,  the  winter  of  1885,  they  numbered  twenty-four 
members. 


LANARK  CHURCH 


In  1886  the  Baptist  Church  in  Lanark  was  rented,  and  regular 
services  were  held.  R.  F.  Mallott  conducted  a  series  of  meetings, 
and  five  persons  united  with  the  church.  One  united  afterward 
by  letter,  and  the  year  was  closed  with  thirty  members. 

In  1887  Brother  W.  H.  Herrington  was  elected  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday-school.  Z.  T.  Livengood  resigned  his  charge  as 
pastor,  and  J.  W.  Beer,  of  California,  took  charge  of  the  work  at 
Lanark.  He  remained  six  months,  and  two  united  with  the 
church.     In  December  of  the  same  year  J.  H.  Worst  conducted 


59°  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS.  - 

a  revival,  with  two  additions  by  baptism,  one  by  letter,  and  one 
by  relation,  making  thirty-five  members. 

During  1888  there  were  no  accessions  at  Lanark,  the  main  part 
of  revival  work  being  done  at  Bethlehem  and  Milledgeville. 
C.  P.  Puterbaugh  was  elected  superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school. 

In  1889  George  De  Bolt  conducted  a  revival,  resulting  in  ten 
accessions,  and  afterwards  one  by  relation,  closing  the  year  with 
forty-two  faithful  members.  Up  to  this  time  Brother  Livengood 
had  charge  of  the  Lanark  and  Bethlehem  churches.  Bethlehem 
had  grown  into  Milledgeville,  and  a  new  church  house  was  erected 
in  the  town.  It  was  dedicated  in  the  fall  of  1889,  by  S.  H.  Bashor, 
who  was  engaged  to  take  charge  of  the  Milledgeville  and  Bethle- 
hem churches,  at  a  salary  of  $800  a  year.  Livengood's  salary  so 
far  had  been  met  by  the  Bethlehem  members,  and  ranged  from 
$100  to  $200.  It  was  now  mutually  agreed  that  Livengood  should 
take  charge  of  the  Lanark  branch,  and  give  his  entire  time  to  it, 
at  a  salary  of  $200.  Bashor  was  to  hold  the  revivals  in  both 
places.  In  1890  twenty-eight  united  with  the  church,  and  the 
number  then  was  seventy.     They  used  the  Congregational  Church. 

In  1 891  twenty  united,  many  of  which  were  by  relation.  At 
the  end  of  this  year  the  number  was  ninety  members. 

In  1892  there  were  thirteen  additions,  mostly  by  confession  and 
baptism.  In  1893  there  were  twenty-three  additions.  No  out- 
side help.  From  1894  to  1899  there  were  one  hundred  additions. 
Total  number  of  members,  one  hundred  and  seventy-two.  Of 
these  fourteen  were  living  in  other  states,  and  there  were  fifty- 
three  males  and  one  hundred  and  nineteen  females.  In  the  Sun- 
day-school from  1887  to  1889  C.  P.  Puterbaugh  was  superintend- 
ent, excepting  Brother  Herrington  the  first  year  and  Brother  C. 
Rowland  in  1896  and  1897. 

During  all  these  years  they  lost  by  death  eighteen,  and  seventeen 
members  by  backsliding  and  joining  other  denominations. 

LOREE,     INDIANA. 

On  March  14,  1886,  a  Brethren  Church  was  organized  at  Loree, 
Miami  County,  Indiana.     At  the  time  of  the  organization  there 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  5QI 

were  sixty-eight  members.  J.  H.  Swihart  was  the  first  pastor,  but 
the  present  pastor  is  D.  A.  Hopkins.  The  membership  now  num- 
bers one  hundred  and  five.  They  have  a  frame  church  thirty  by 
forty-four  feet. 

LOWER    VALLEY    OF    VIRGINIA. 

In  May,  1884,  E.  B.  Shaver,  then  a  German  Baptist  minister, 
invited  S.  H.  Bashor,  who  was  preaching  in  Rockingham  County, 
to  hold  a  protracted  meeting.  The  U.  B.  Church  at  Tom's  Brook 
was  secured  for  this  purpose.  The  result  of  the  meeting  was 
eight  baptisms,  viz.,  M.  M.  Fankhouser  and  wife,  Thos.  Murphy, 
Sarah  Ritenour,  Christie  Crabill,  John  Funk,  and  George  A.  Copp 
and  wife.  These  eight  persons  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  first 
Progressive  Brethren  Church  in  Northern  Virginia.  There  was 
one  thing  peculiar  about  their  relation  as  to  denominationalism. 
They  came  out  under  the  preaching  of  a  progressive  minister,  and 
yet  were  baptized  by  a  conservative  preacher.  The  question  soon 
arose  as  to  whether  they  were  German  Baptists  or  Progressive 
Brethren.  The  converts,  however,  decided  themselves  members 
of  the  Brethren  Church,  and  continued  to  be  so.  Nearly  one  year 
elapsed  before  an  organization  of  the  Brethren  was  effected.  At 
the  organization  thirty-six  declared  themselves  to  be  of  the  Breth- 
ren Church.  As  far  as  I  know,  of  the  eight  original  progressive 
members,  only  four  remain  true  to  their  first  love. 

Out  of  this  organization  sprang  that  at  Mount  Zion  church,  at 
Reliance,  in  Warren  County,  Virginia,  the  charter  members  of 
which  came  out  of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  and  four  of 
them, — John  E.  Copp,  George  S.  Rinker,  Arlena  Copp,  and  Z.  H. 
Copp, — were  charter  members  of  organization  in  the  Lower  Val- 
ley of  Virginia. 

A  meeting  was  held  at  the  old  free  church  named  Providence, 
only  a  few  yards  from  where  now  stands  Mount  Zion  church.  This 
meeting  was  held  April  18,  1885,  and  seems  to  have  been  presided 
over  by  E.  B.  Shaver.  Following  are  the  names  of  the  charter 
members :  George  S.  Rinker,  who  was  later  elected  elder,  Jacob 
C.  Rinker,  Mary  C.  Steele,  George  A.  Stelle,  J.  Arlena  Copp,  Mary 


592  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

S.  Rinker,  Z.  H.  Copp,  John  E.  Copp,  Annie  E.  Kerns,  John 
Smith,  Alice  L.  Pangle,  Emily  H.  Pangle,  Carrie  Fetzer,  John 
Brumbaugh,  Fanny  Pangle,  W.  D.  Anderson,  Annie  Himelright. 
These  persons  constituted  the  first  Brethren  Church  in  Warren 
County,  and  they  came  from  Shenandoah,  Warren,  and  Frederick 
Counties.  They  worshiped  in  the  old  free  church,  and  E.  B. 
Shaver  was  their  first  pastor.  After  about  three  years  J.  F. 
Koontz,  of  Rockingham  County,  served  two  years ;  G.  S.  Rinker 
served  one  or  two  years.  George  A.  Copp  was  called  April  26, 
1893,  and  has  continued  to  the  present  time. 

The  new  church  was  dedicated  September  23,  1894.  It  has  a 
steel  roof  and  a  bell,  a  pulpit  recess,  and  is  well  furnished  inside. 
It  is  only  a  few  hundred  feet  from  the  Shenandoah  Normal  College. 
This  congregation  is  composed  of  about  fifty  members,  and  from 
it  sprang  the  Mount  Pleasant  church,  situated  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  Warren  County,  near  Water  Lick.  It  comprises  forty- 
two  members,  and  has  a  church  building.  G.  S.  Rinker  first 
preached  for  them ;  afterward  J.  F.  Koontz  and  E.  B.  Shaver,  and 
then  George  A.  Copp,  who  has  served  six  years,  and  is  still  their 
pastor.  John  W.  Brewer  and  wife,  William  Putnum  and  wife, 
Thomas  Burk,  S.  J.  Hausenfluck,  Abraham  Weaver  and  wife,  and 
G.  F.  Clem  and  wife  are  among  the  original  members. 

George  A.  Copp. 

MAPLE    GROVE,     KANSAS. 

The  Maple  Grove  church  is  located  at  Rockwell  City,  Norten 
County.  It  was  organized  in  1883,  Elder  Jacob  Armsberger  pre- 
siding. There  were  eleven  charter  members,  to  wit:  Maggie 
Strayer,  C.  Strayer,  M.  Lichty,  Ninie  Lichty,  Simon  Holsinger, 
Carry  Holsinger,  John  Murphy,  John  Aukerman,  E.  Aukerman, 
E.  Howard,  Vinie  Johnson. 

C.  Strayer  and  Simon  Holsinger  were  selected  deacons  by  virtue 
of  former  election  and  installation. 

Secretary,  C.  Strayer.  Elder  Jacob  Armsberger  was  placed  in 
charge,  and  Michael  Lichty,  assistant  pastor.  Present  pastor,  C. 
Forney,  of  Beaver  City,  Nebraska,  who  gives  monthly  services. 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  593 

Asa  Bissell,  home  minister  and  assistant  pastor.     Present  member- 
ship, eighty. 

The  German  Baptist  Brethren  have  an  organization  in  this  same 
community.  Their  church  building  is  less  than  two  miles  from 
the  Brethren  Church.  Both  churches  seem  to  be  doing  good  work. 
They  have  a  church  building  worth  about  $800,  including  other 
property.  The  Sunday-school  is  well  attended,  and  the  interest 
good. 

MOUNT  ZION. 

There  is  also  a  class  of  six  members  located  at  Norcatur,  and 
known  as  Mount  Zion  church.  They  were  organized  by  Brother 
Rittenhouse,  of  Ohio.  It  joins  the  Maple  Grove  church  on  the 
east.     Brother  O.  L.  Brown,  minister  in  charge. 

MANOR,    PENNSYLVANIA. 

Manor  congregation,  Indiana  County,  Pennsylvania,  was  organ- 
ized about  1846.  Early  ministers  were  Elders  John  Menealy,  Levi 
Roberts,  Jacob  Stutsman,  John  Forney,  George  Rairigh,  Samuel 
Lydick,  David  Ober,  and  Levi  Fry.  Brother  Fry  was  one  of  the 
charter  members,  and  the  only  one  now  living.  In  the  division 
he  stood  "gospel  alone,"  and  through  his  steadfastness  and  effort 
an  organization  of  brethren  was  effected.  Elder  Fry  was  eighty 
years  bid  Sept.  25,  1899.  The  present  reconstructed  congregation 
is  known  as  Cherry  Hill.  It  is  yet  a  mission  point,  mostly  sup- 
plied by  J.  B.  Wampler,  state  evangelist.  The  congregation  owns 
one  church  edifice  in  fee  simple,  worth  $1,200. 

COVVANSHANNOC,    PENNSYLVANIA. 

What  are  now  known  as  the  Plumcreek  and  Redbank  congre- 
gations were  at  the  first  only  one  district,  and  that  was  Cowan- 
shannoc,  and  was  organized  about  the  year  1834.  Elders  John 
McNealy  and  Levi  Roberts  were  the  pioneer  preachers  and  organ- 
izers. George  Rairigh  was  the  first  preacher  elected  in  the  con- 
gregation. Afterwards  his  son  Samuel.  It  is  said  that  Elder 
George  Rairigh,  when  elected  to  preach,  could  not  read  his  own 
text.     He  became  a  very  successful  worker. 

38 


594  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Some  of  the  traveling  missionaries  were  John  McNeally,  Levi 
Roberts,  Jacob  Stutsman,  Jonathan  Kelso,  Sr. ;  later,  Isaac 
Shoemaker,  James  Quinter,  Joseph  Kelso.  Later  the  congrega- 
tion elected  Lewis  Kimmel,  Solomon  Beer,  Joseph  W.  Beer,  J.  B. 
Wampler,  S.  W.  Wilt,  J.  W.  Smouse,  and  Eugene  H.  Smith.  Sol- 
omon Beer  died  before  the  division.  Lewis  Kimmel  and  Joseph 
Wilt  are  German  Baptists,  but  all  the  others  are  brethren.  There 
are  now  two  church  edifices  in  the  district,  worth  about  $1,000 
each.  For  many  years  the  meetings  were  held  either  in  the  houses 
or  barns  of  Jacob  Beer,  Edward  Wells,  John  Secrist,  Peter  Beck, 
Joseph  Spickers,  George  Rairigh,  Chrystal  Cravener,  Jesse  Shoe- 
maker, William  Rairigh,  Daniel  Fry,  and  Tobias  Kimmel. 

MC   LOUTH,    KANSAS. 

The  Brethren  Church  at  McLouth,  Kansas,  was  organized  April 
2,  1892.  W.  T.  Stout,  Leona  Stout,  Blanche  Garret,  Geo.  M. 
Woodhead,  and  Lucy  E.  Woodhead  met  at  the  house  of  G.  M. 
Woodhead,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  Brethren  Church. 
Elder  W.  J.  H.  Bauman  presided  as  bishop.  Wm.  T.  Stout  was 
chosen  and  installed  a  deacon  by  laying  on  of  hands  and  prayer, 
as  was  the  custom  of  the  apostles.  The  church  was  named  the 
Brethren  Church,  of  McLouth,  Kansas.  They  held  meetings  in 
neighboring  schoolhouses,  and  rented  churches,  until  the  fall  of 
1894,  when  they  agreed  with  the  German  Baptist  brethren  at 
McLouth  to  unite  with  them  and  build  a  church.  The  church  was 
completed  and  dedicated  December  25,  1894.  The  brethren  held 
their  first  church  meeting  in  the  new  house  January,  1895.  J-  R- 
Kimmel  was  chosen  pastor  for  one  year,  and  G.  M.  Woodhead  was 
ordained  deacon  according  to  the  Scriptures.  The  organization 
now  numbers  about  sixty,  one-third  of  them  living  about  ten  miles 
north.  They  contemplate  a  new  organization.  J.  R.  Kimmel  is 
the  present  pastor,  assisted  by  W.  T.  Stout. 

MEXICO,  INDIANA. 

On  the  beautiful  banks  of  the  Eel  River,  in  the  town  of  Mexico, 
Miami   County,   Indiana,   stands   a   handsome,   square   structure 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  595 

known  as  the  Mexico  Brethren  Church.  It  is  the  Bethel  of  about 
one  hundred  fifteen  souls,  who  meet  there  to  worship  God. 

Through  the  efforts  of  Sister  J.  O.  Fisher,  the  only  member  of 
the  church  at  the  time,  Brethren  J.  H.  Swihart  and  A.  A.  Cober 
preached  in  the  town.  In  1889  S.  H.  Bashor  held  a  protracted 
meeting,  and,  as  a  result,  on  March  10,  1889,  an  organization  with 
seventeen  charter  members  was  effected.  Brother  L.  Beecher 
Skinner  was  chosen  clerk,  and  Brother  Peter  M.  Fisher,  deacon, 
which  offices  they  still  faithfully  fill.  Brother  Bashor  was  first 
pastor. 

The  church  building  cost  about  $2,500,  and  was  dedicated  in 
the  spring  of  1892,  by  J.  Allen  Miller.  W.  C.  Perry  followed 
Bashor  as  pastor,  and  was  succeeded  by  L.  W.  Ditch  in  1892,  and 
in  October,  1897,  by  Louis  S.  Bauman,  of  Auburn,  Illinois,  who 
is  still  her  pastor.  Since  he  began  his  work,  there  have  been 
forty-three  additions  to  the  church.  James  S.  Blair  was  after- 
ward chosen  deacon. 

This  church  has  a  very  substantial  membership,  and  is  in  per- 
fect peace,  never  having  had  a  quarrel  within  her  walls.  Truly 
they  can  sing,  with  the  psalmist,  "Behold,  how  good  and  how 
pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity." 

This  church  is  parent  to  the  Corinth  church,  at  Twelve  Mile, 
Indiana. 

MEYERSDALE,    PENNSYLVANIA. 

This  church  was  the  only  organization  under  the  progressive 
dispensation,  having  been  accomplished  before  the  division  of  the 
Tunker  fraternity,  and  several  years  before  the  organization  of 
the  Brethren  Church  at  Dayton,  Ohio.  It  was  brought  about  in 
the  following  manner  : — 

For  years  there  had  been  much  dissatisfaction  with  the  execu- 
tive department  of  the  Meyersdale  church  by  a  respectable  por- 
tion of  the  congregation,  whether  justly  or  not  we  need  not  assume 
to  say.  Redress  was  anxiously  sought,  but  never  attained.  The 
dissatisfaction  increased  in  intensity,  and  spread  among  the 
membership,  until  it  resulted  in  the  withdrawal  of  twenty-six 
members  in  a  body  from  the  oversight  of  the  bishop. 


596     •  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

The  direct  cause  of  the  troubles  originated  in  the  Sunday- 
school.  There  were  not  enough  places  for  all  the  workers,  and 
a  disposition  was  manifest  to  favor  some  and  crowd  out  others. 
It  is  also  a  stubborn  fact  that  in  this  congregation  the  Frennd- 
schaft  (consanguinity)  was  stronger  in  numbers  and  preference 
than  the  Gemcinschaft  (fraternity).  The  town  of  Meyersdale 
has  physical  divisions  as  well  as  social  and  religious  dissensions. 
In  the  former,  the  Flaherty  Creek  was  the  source  of  dividing  the 
town  into  north  and  south  sides.  The  German  Baptist  Church 
is  on  the  south  side,  the  residence  portion  of  the  town.  Some 
of  the  surplus  and  more  unwelcome  workers  caught  the  mission- 
ary spirit,  and  opened  a  mission  Sunday-school  on  the  north  side, 
taking  their  own  children,  and  gathering  a  few  others  from  the 
streets,  the  first  meeting  occurring  January  9,  1881.  These  work- 
ers were  Dr.  U.  M.  Beachly,  Michael  Hady,  John  M.  Olinger,  and 
Daniel  Schultz.  Brother  Schultz  could  assist  principally  in  a 
financial  way.  For  this  digression  the  four  brethren  were  cited 
to  a  church  council  to  answer  to  a  charge  of  creating  schism,  and, 
failing  to  do  required  penance,  were  promptly  expelled.  This 
hasty  action,  added  to  the  existing  dissatisfaction,  created  much 
sympathy  for  the  four  victims,  as  well  as  for  the  cause  in  which 
they  had  enlisted,  and  was  followed  by  a  withdrawal  of  member- 
ship of  twenty-two  others  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop. 
They  were  not  asked  to  discontinue  the  school,  but  to  make 
acknowledgment  for  having  started  it.  The  school  was  a  suc- 
cess, and  soon  numbered  over  one  hundred  attendants.  The  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  government  of  the  church  also  grew  in 
intensity. 

Finally,  at  an  informal  meeting  of  the  twenty-six  members 
referred  to  above,  the  following  action  was  taken  : — 

"Believing  that  the  cause  of  Christ  in  any  community  will  suffer 
if  there  is  not  peace,  unity,  and  harmony  among  the  followers  of 
the  meek  and  lowly  One,  and  having  made  efforts  to  obtain  this 
greatly  desired  peace  and  harmony  in  the  Meyersdale  congrega- 
tion, and  having  failed  in  every  effort,  but  still  having  full  faith 
in  the  Bible  doctrine  of  the  church  of  the  brethren,  so  that  we 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  597 

could  not  leave  the  old  brotherhood,  therefore,  on  the  21st  day 
of  January,  1881,  a  paper  was  drawn  up,  in  which  reasons  were 
given  for  our  withdrawal  from  Bishop  Lint's  jurisdiction,  but 
not  from  the  church."  Said  paper  was  promptly  signed  by 
twenty-six  members,  and  the  withdrawal  was  sent  to  and  accepted 
by  the  Meyersdale  church  on  the  twenty-third  day  of  January, 
1881. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  January  a  committee  of  four  breth- 
ren, namely,  E.  J.  Faidly,  M.  Hady,  D.  S.  Cover,  and  J.  M.  din- 
ger, was  sent  to  the  Berlin  church,  on  that  day  assembled  in 
council,  to  make  application  to  be  taken  in  charge  of  that  church. 
Said  application  was  accepted,  and  we  were  called  the  Meyersdale 
branch  of  the  Berlin  church. 

On  the  evening  of  February  3,  H.  R.  Holsinger  preached  for 
them  in  Livengood's  Hall,  which  had  been  rented  by  the  Brethren 
Mission  Sunday-school.  After  the  service  a  council  meeting  was 
held,  at  which  Brother  Holsinger  presided,  and  two  more  names 
were  added  to  the  list  of  members.  M.  Hady  was  elected  clerk, 
and  J.  M.  Olinger  assistant  and  treasurer.  D.  S.  Cover,  Elias 
Younkin,  and  J.  M.  Olinger  were  appointed  a  committee  to  con- 
fer with  the  Meyersdale  German  Baptist  Church  for  the  use  of 
the  old  meeting-house  at  such  times  when  said  congregation  did 
not  use  it. 

A  few  days  afterward  this  committee  attended  to  its  appointed 
duty,  and  were  refused. 

The  names  of  the  twenty-six  members  who  first  withdrew  are 
as  follows :  U.  M.  Beachly,  J.  M.  Olinger,  M.  Hady,  Daniel 
Schultz,  E.  J.  Faidley,  Samuel  Hochstetler,  Annie  Hochstetler, 
Sarah  J.  Olinger,  Annie  Schultz,  Mary  A.  Beachly,  Peter  Schultz, 
Barbara  Schultz,  D.  S.  Cover,  Annie  Cover,  E.  P.  Younkin, 
Emma  Younkin,  U.  M.  Saylor,  Mary  Susan  Saylor,  Annie  Hady, 
Monie  Lenhart,  Rose  Lenhart,  Henrietta  Bowman,  Annie  Hersch, 
Charles  Askey,  Catharine  Askey,  Ed.  S.  Hady. 

Holsinger  continued  to  preach  for  this  branch  in  their  rented 
hall  every  Thursday  evening,  until  May,  when  the  following 
paper  was  presented  to  the  district  meeting,  by  the  Brethren 
Church  of  Berlin  : — 


598  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

"To  the  brethren  assembled  in  district  meeting  of  the  western 
district  of  Pennsylvania,  for  the  year  1881 — 

"Greeting.  Brethren :  A  petition  from  a  number  of  persons 
known  to  us  to  have  been  members  of  the  Meyersdale  congrega- 
tion, and  believed  to  be  faithful  and  efficient  workers  in  the  church, 
and  in  full  accord  with  the  doctrine  and  practices  of  our  denom- 
ination, was  presented  to  our  church  on  the  29th  of  January, 
1881,  in  which  said  petitioners  set  forth  in  substance  that,  owing 
to  what  seemed  to  them  to  be  an  indiscreet  administration  of  the 
government  of  the  church,  they  could  not  enjoy  the  means  of  grace 
under  its  ministration.  They  further  represented  that  they  had 
by  their  own  act  dissolved  their  connection  with  said  congregation, 
and,  still  wishing  to  retain  a  place  in  the  denomination,  asked  to 
be  taken  under  the  oversight  and  care  of  our  congregation. 

"After  some  deliberation  upon  the  matter,  a  vote  was  taken, 
resulting  in  a  grant  of  their  petition,  without  a  dissenting  voice 
among  those  present. 

"This  step  was  not  taken  without  a  knowledge  of  the  want  of 
unanimity  existing  in  the  Meyersdale  congregation,  and  was 
therefore  taken  with  some  hesitancy,  especially  since  we  had  no 
knowledge  of  any  precedent  for  such  a  course  in  the  usage  of  our 
denomination.  The  principal  incentive  to  the  course  taken  was 
that,  knowing  the  brethren,  and  having  full  confidence  in  their 
Christian  character,  we  felt  that  it  was  our  duty  to  fulfil  the  mis- 
sion of  the  church  in  breaking  to  them  the  bread  of  life,  and  thus 
save  them  to  our  denomination,  until  such  time  as  harmony 
between  them  and  the  brethren  from  whom  they  had  separated 
themselves  might  be  restored. 

"Now,  therefore,  wishing  to  be  in  harmony  with  our  brother- 
hood, we  submit  our  action  in  the  case  to  your  body,  and  ask  an 
expression  of  the  brethren,  in  council,  with  reference  to  the  course 
we  have  taken  in  the  matter." 

This  paper  was  utterly  ignored  by  the  district  meeting,  and  a 
counter  paper  from  the  Meyersdale  church  was  accepted,  placed 
on  the  minutes,  and  our  course  severely  censured,  without  any 
investigation  of  the  case.     The  Meyersdale  members  could  now 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  599 

see  no  hope  of  reconciliation  with  the  Meyersdale  congregation, 
and  therefore  they  resolved  themselves  into  the  Second  Brethren 
Church  of  Meyersdale.  And  since  then  they  claim  no  fraternal 
relations  with  the  Meyersdale  German  Baptist  Church. 

In  due  time  they  proceeded  to  build  a  house  of  worship,  which 
was  dedicated  on  November  6,  1881,  H.  R.  Holsinger  preaching 
the  dedicatory  sermon.  A  protracted  meeting  was  commenced  on 
that  day,  and  continued  several  weeks.  As  a  result  of  the  effort, 
twelve  persons  were  baptized  on  November  12,  and  six  added  by 
letter  and  restoration.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  they  held 
their  first  communion  in  the  new  church.  Total  membership  at 
that  time,  sixty-five. 

ACTION     OF     THE     MEYERSDALE,     PENNSYLVANIA,     CHURCH. 

July  4,  1887,  a  visit  by  the  three  deacons,  Brothers  Younkins, 
Miller,  and  Cook,  was  made  to  Brother  Daniel  Schultz,  to  ask  him 
to  abandon  the  whisky  traffic— without  success.  And,  on  August 
30,  1887,  we,  the  officers  and  pastor  of  the  Brethren  Church  at 
Meyersdale,  Pennsylvania,  in  council  assembled,  having  given  due 
notice  to  Brother  Schultz  to  appear  and  answer  to  the  charge 
against  him,  Brother  Schultz  promised  to  appear,  but  failed  to 
do  so ;  wherefore,  the  officers  of  the  church,  having  duly  con- 
sidered the  charge  against  said  Brother  Schultz  for  engaging  in 
the  sale  of  whisky,  as  we  regard  it  a  stigma  on  the  church,  and 
antagonistic  to  the  principles  of  Christianity ;  and  we  do  declare 
that,  unless  said  Brother  Daniel  Schultz  will,  within  the  next  thirty 
days,  discontinue  all  interest  he  may  have  in  the  sale  of  whisky 
upon  his  premises,  or  otherwise,  he  will  no  longer  be  considered 
a  member  of  the  Brethren  Church. 

Signed  by  A.  D.  Gnagy,  pastor ;  H.  M.  Beachly,  D.  S.  Cober, 
and  J.  M.  dinger,  trustees ;  E.  K.  Younkin,  N.  E.  Miller,  and 
Wm.  B.  Cook,  deacons. 

A  notice  of  the  above  proceedings  was  furnished  Brother 
Schultz,  and,  at  the  expiration  of  the  thirty  days,  he  was  properly 
notified  that  he  is  no  member  of  the  Brethren  Church,  as  he  has 
not  complied  with  the  above  official  request. 

(Signed)  J.  M.  dinger,  Clerk. 


6oo 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


MILFORD,    INDIANA. 

Early  in  the  year  1883  a  little  body  of  believers  in  Christ  as 
the  only  Lawgiver  was  collected  in  the  town  of  Milford,  Indiana. 
This  is  near  the  site  of  the  famous  Arnold  Grove  annual  meeting 
of  the  German  Baptists.  Elder  John  Nicholson,  then  of  Iowa, 
assembled  with  them,  at  which  time  arrangements  were  completed 

for  other  services.  On 
March  2,  1885,  Elder  R.  F. 
Mallott  was  called  to  their 
assistance,  when  Perry  Early 
was  chosen  elder,  and  John 
Montgomery,  deacon.  There 
is  no  data  to  determine  the 
number  of  members  at  this 
time.  The  church  house  was 
erected  in  1886,  and  dedicated 
to  the  service  of  the  Lord,  by 
S.  H.  Bashor,  October  24  of 
the  same  year. 

The  building  is  a  splendid 
edifice,  thirty-six  feet  by  sixty 
feet,  built  of  brick ;  has  a  ves- 
tibule, tall  spire,  slate  roof, 
frosted  glass  windows,  and 
has  first-class  pews.  It  cost 
$3,760,  and  reflects  much 
credit  on  the  three  trustees,  Dan,  Tom,  and  George  Dubbs,  and 
Thomas  Clayton,  who  saw  the  work  was  done  right. 

The  church  has  had  a  steady  growth,  but  enjoyed,  in  addition, 
three  large  ingatherings.  One  was  while  R.  F.  Mallott  was 
preaching,  another  in  the  Bashor  revival,  and  the  other  by  the 
present  pastor.  The  present  membership  is  161,  nearly  all  active 
in  some  lines  of  church  work.  They  support  a  pastor  for  his 
entire  time.  The  membership  has  always  stood  for  a  high  moral 
standard.  It  owes  its  present  hold  on  the  community  to  its  firm 
stand  for  rigid  morals  on  the  part  of  the  membership.  In  1887 
the  following  resolutions  were  passed : — 


MILFORD    CHURCH 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  6oi 

"Whereas,  It  has  been  reported  that  the  Brethren  Church  allows 
all  kinds  of  doubtful  and  sinful  privileges  to  be  participated  in  by 
its  members,  without  caution  or  reproof ;  therefore,  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  the  Brethren  Church  of  Milford  requests  its 
members  to  abstain  from  every  appearance  of  evil ;  that  among 
such  appearances  of  evil  we  regard  all  places  of  purely  idle 
amusements,  games,  and  plays  at  chance,  and  places  where  intox- 
icating drinks  are  sold  as  a  beverage.  That  all  members  of  this 
congregation  are  requested  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicants  as  a 
beverage.  That  we  regard  the  violation  of  this  resolution  as 
deserving  the  condemnation  of  the  church."  The  congregation 
still  enforces  the  resolution.     Present  pastor,  G.  W.  Rench. 

MILLEDGEVILLE,     ILLINOIS. 

The  Milledgeville  Brethren  Church  was  organized  on  July  13, 
1884,  by  H.  R.  Holsinger.  The  organization  took  place  in  the 
old  "Dutchtown"  German  Baptist  Church,  near  Milledgeville, 
Illinois.  The  congregation  adopted  Bethlehem  as  the  name  of 
their  church.  There  were  thirty  charter  members,  and  Z.  T.  Liv- 
engood was  ordained  as  the  first  pastor  and  elder.  Following  is 
a  list  of  the  charter  members,  in  the  order  in  which  they  were 
recorded : — 

Z.  T.  Livengood,  Daniel  Fike,  Abraham  Livengood,  Olive  Hol- 
loway,  Abraham  Lichty,  Henry  H.  Meyers,  Samuel  Hoover, 
Joseph  Blough,  Abraham  Brand,  Elias  Fike,  Henry  Livengood, 
John  Schrock,  Silas  Fike,  James  Coleman,  A.  L.  Livengood, 
Joseph  Livengood,  Henry  Walker,  Wilson  Miller,  Roselin  Brand, 
Lizzie  Fike,  Vinnie  Livengood,  Annie  Miller,  Amanda  Meyers, 
Dillie  Coleman,  Francis  Brand,  Mary  Meyers,  Sophia  Brand, 
Ellen  Gnagey,  Mary  Walker,  Susan  Livengood. 

Immediately  after  the  organization,  the  erection  of  a  place  of 
worship  was  commenced,  and  in  December  of  the  same  year  the 
Bethlehem  church  was  dedicated.  A  few  years  later  the  work  was 
begun  in  the  town  of  Milledgeville,  and  on  November  3,  1898,  a 
new  brick  church  was  dedicated,  and  the  principal  service  was 
transferred  from  the  country  to  town,  the  membership  composing 


602  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

one  and  the  same  congregation.  S.  H.  Bashor  was  pastor  at  this 
time.  In  1892  J.  C.  Talley  was  called  to  this  pastorate,  and  dur- 
ing his  labors  here  a  neat,  two-story,  six-room  parsonage  was 
erected.  Brother  Talley  served  the  congregation  for  six  years, 
when  the  present  pastor,  R.  R.  Teeter,  took  up  the  work. 

The  membership  has  increased  from  the  original  thirty  to  over 
two  hundred.  This  church  may  be  said  to  be  one  of  the  most 
loyal  supporters  of  the  church  institutions,  including  college,  pub- 
lishing house,  and  missions. 

MILLERSBURG,    IOWA. 

Location,  Millersburg,  Iowa  County.  This  church  was  organ- 
ized November  8,  1880,  with  sixteen  charter  members.  J.  A.  Mey- 
ers was  elected  and  installed  pastor  of  the  church  on  the  same  day, 
and  has  continued  to  the  present  time,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  months.  It  was  first  organized  as  a  Congregational  Breth- 
ren Church,  Elder  J.  H.  Swihart  presiding.  The  charter  members 
had  all  belonged  to  the  German  Baptist  Church.  After  the  organ- 
ization they  were  visited  by  the  German  Baptist  officials,  and 
entreated  to  return  in  a  body,  without  any  concessions ;  but  they 
had  been  so  much  discouraged  by  constant  agitations  of  the  dress 
question,  and  other  unessential  points,  that  they  could  not  con- 
sent to  return.  But  they  have  ever  since  been  on  friendly  rela- 
tions, worshiping  together  in  the  same  house,  and  frequently 
exchanging  pulpits.  The  growth  of  the  church  has  been  gradual, 
numbering  at  this  time  about  fifty  members.  No  lasting  troubles 
have  harassed  the  body.  For  further  information  see  biography 
of  John  A.  Meyers. 

Morrison's  cove,  Pennsylvania. 

Brother  W.  L.  Spanogle  was  the  pioneer  worker  in  the.  progress- 
ive cause  in  the  Brethren  Church,  in  the  territory  known  as  Mor- 
rison's Cove,  and  Blair,  Bedford,  and  Huntingdon  Counties. 
The  history  of  the  church  can  not  be  written  without  including 
his  biography,  especially  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  At  the  time 
of  the  agitation  of  the  progressive  cause  he  was  a  member  of  the 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  603 

James  Creek  congregation  of  the  German  Baptist  Church.  He 
resided  in  the  village  of  Markleysburg,  Huntingdon  County, 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  known  to  be  progressively  inclined,  hav- 
ing expressed  decided  disapproval  of  the  action  of  the  Berlin 
committee. 

In  the  fall  of  1882,  by  special  invitation,  he  conducted  a  series 
of  meetings  for  the  Meyersdale  Progressive  Brethren  Church. 
On  his  return  home  he  was  notified  to  appear  before  the  church 
council,  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  preaching  for  and  associating 
with  disowned  members,  and  the  verdict  of  the  council  was  that 
he  should  acknowledge  his  error  and  retract.  This  he  could  not 
do,  and  therefore  he  was  disowned  from  the  James  Creek  church. 
This  council  was  held  on  November  30,  1882. 

On  December  30  of  the  same  year  he  preached  the  first  pro- 
gressive sermon  in  Blair  County,  in  the  Fairview  German  Baptist 
Church,  near  Williamsburg,  pervading  the  sacred  precincts  of  the 
old  stronghold  of  Pennsylvania  Tunkerism. 

December  31,  1882,  he  began  protracted  meetings  at  the  Cross- 
road church,  three  miles  southwest  of  Martinsburg.  During  the 
services  there  were  a  number  of  converts ;  and  here  it  becomes  our 
duty  to  record  an  incident  which  will  illustrate  the  degree  of 
church  prejudice  that  had  obtained  in  the  German  Baptist  Church. 
A  messenger  was  sent  to  a  conservative  deacon  residing  by  a 
beautiful  stream  of  water,  in  which,  for  half  a  century,  they  had 
been  baptizing  their  converts,  asking  permission  to  use  the  same. 
They  were  promptly  and  peremptorily  refused.  However,  there 
was  other  water  in  the  neighborhood.  Brother  Joseph  Bassler, 
a  river  brethren  minister,  living  near  Woodbury,  now  residing 
in  Kansas,  tendered  the  courtesies  of  his  house  and  the  use  of  a 
stream  of  clear  water  running  close  by.  Here  the  first  baptism 
was  administered  under  brethren  regime,  January  14,  1883. 

The  first  Brethren  Church  in  Morrison's  Cove  was  organized 
January  13,  1883,  with  forty-five  members.  It  was  known  as  the 
Crossroad  church.  Brother  Spanogle  was  selected  as  pastor,  and 
on  the  1st  of  April,  1883,  he  moved  to  the  town  of  Martinsburg, 
and  took  charge  of  this  church,  preaching  alternately  at  the  Cross- 
roads, Duncansville,  and  Fredericksburg. 


604  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

The  first  communion  was  held  at  the  Crossroad  church,  May 
2J,  1883,  forty-two  members  participating.  Brother  P.  J.  Brown 
presided  at  the  service.  At  this  time  Brother  Spanogle  was 
ordained  to  the  eldership  by  Brother  Brown. 

September  2,  1883,  he  preached  his  first. sermon,  at  New  Enter- 
prise church,  with  fourteen  members.  Brethren  Edward  S.  Miller, 
then  living  at  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  and  Stephen  Hildebrand,  of 
Johnstown,  Pennsylvania,  assisted  in  the  organization.  This  was 
followed  by  a  protracted  meeting,  resulting  in  fifteen  additions  to 
the  church.  The  first  communion  was  held  in  the  large  German 
Baptist  Church,  on  the  24th  of  the  same  month,  with  about  thirty 
communicants.  Brethren  E.  L.  Yoder  and  Daniel  Crofford 
assisted  in  the  service.  Brother  R.  Z.  Replogle  was  pastor  until 
April,    1884. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1884,  Brother  Spanogle  took  charge  of 
the  New  Enterprise  church.  In  the  summer  of  1885  a  good  sub- 
stantial church  was  built,  modern  in  its  construction,  with  a  large 
bell,  which  sounded  strangely  to  the  denizens  of  that  community. 
It  was  dedicated  November  8,  1885,  by  Brother  J.  D.  McFaden. 
From  that  time  the  church  prospered,  now  having  a  membership 
of  over  one  hundred.  Brother  J.  F.  Koontz  followed  Brother 
Spanogle  as  pastor,  who  was  succeeded  by  Brother  E.  H.  Smith. 
Brother  J.  W.  Smouse  is  now  pastor  of  the  church. 

m'kee. 

May  24,  1884,  Brother  Spanogle  preached  his  first  sermon  at 
McKee.  This  is  located  just  west  of  the  Cove,  near  the  outlet  of 
Plum  Creek,  and  just  below  McKee's  Gap,  in  Blair  County.  A 
schoolhouse  served  him  as  a  sanctuary.  He  continued  to  preach 
at  this  point  until  January  23,  1886,  when  a  church  was  organized, 
with  thirty-six  members.  A  house  of  worship  was  built,  and  was 
dedicated  to  the  service  of  God  July  n,  1886.  Brother  Spanogle 
continued  his  pastoral  service  of  this  church  to  the  close  of  the 
century,  except  two  years,  when  he  was  pastor  of  the  Pittsburg 
church.  The  McKee  church  has  prospered  under  his  care,  having 
now  over  one  hundred  members. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  605 

FREDERICKSBURG. 

At  Fredericksburg,  on  Clover  Creek,  in  the  Cove,  two  miles  east 
of  Martinsburg,  is  located  another  Brethren  Church.  The  house 
was  built  as  a  union  house,  but  was  purchased  by  the  congregation, 
and  was  dedicated  in  1886.  This  church  has  about  forty  mem- 
bers, of  which  Brother  Spanogle  is  also  pastor,  but  is  assisted  by 
Brother  S.  B.  Furry,  who  is  also  an  ordained  elder,  but  physically 
incapacitated  for  constant  service. 

ALTOONA. 

The  first  Brethren  Church  of  Altoona,  Pennsylvania,  was 
organized  in  April,  1894,  with  forty  members,  under  the  care  of 
Brother  Spanogle.  He  has  remained  its  pastor  since  the  organi- 
zation, except  during  1897,  when  Brother  W.  A.  Harmon  served 
them.  A  lot  was  purchased,  and  a  comfortable  chapel  was 
erected,  and  was  dedicated  July  19,  1896.  Brethren  R.  Z.  Rep- 
logle  and  D.  J.  Bole  assisted  in  the  dedicatory  service.  Present 
membership  numbers  eighty-five. 

MOUNT    OLIVE,    WEST    VIRGINIA. 

Mount  Olive  Brethren  Church  is  in  Ritchie  County,  West  Vir- 
ginia. It  was  organized  on  July  18,  1886.  .  There  were  ten 
charter  members.  The  first  pastor  was  Elder  James  Pamphlin. 
The  present  (1899)  pastor  is  N.  D.  Wright,  and  the  present 
number  of  members  is  about  fifty. 

They  have  a  church  building,  thirty  feet  by  forty  feet,  and 
have  preaching  every  fourth  Sunday  and  the  Saturday  before ; 
prayer-meeting,  every  second  Sunday.  They  have  commenced  a 
King's  Children  Society,  with  hopes  that  it  may  prosper  and 
benefit  the  church. 

MULVANE,     KANSAS. 

Name,  the  Star  Brethren  Church.  Located  five  miles  southeast 
of  Mulvane,  Sumner  County.  Organized  February  28,  1884, 
Elder  A.  J.  Hixson  officiating.      Number  of    charter    members, 


606  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

eleven.  Pastors,  D.  Harader,  serving  about  two  years ;  A.  P. 
Gibson,  one  year ;  W.  J.  H.  Bauman,  six  months ;  Jacob  W.  Beer, 
two  years.  Present  pastor,  L.  G.  Wood,  since  May  I,  1898. 
Present  number  of  members,  twenty-three. 

NEW     VIRGINIA,     IOWA. 

In  A.  D.  1870  there  were  a  few  members  living  on  Grand  River, 
Union  County,  Iowa,  namely,  William  Groesbeck,  Michael  Myers, 
Henry  Groesbeck  and  wife,  Brother  Shafer  and  wife,  Brother 
Johnson  and  wife.  Sister  Sally  Black  lived  in  Madison  County ; 
John  Fields  and  wife  and  William  Smith  and  wife,  in  Clarke 
County ;  and  Joseph  Schutt,  S.  J.  Thomas  and  wife,  and  Elizabeth 
Keffer,  in  Warren  County.  These  members  were  scattered  over 
an  area  of  about  thirty  miles  in  diameter. 

By  request  of  Elder  C.  Harader,  of  Adams  County,  the  mem- 
bers met  and  organized,  electing  William  Groesbeck  minister  and 
John  Fields  deacon.  They  appointed  regular  meetings  at  Grand 
River  and  Prairie  Grove.  At  the  latter  place  their  first  com- 
munion meeting  was  held  September  28,  1872 ;  and  at  a  meeting 
May  17,  1874,  I.  J.  Thomas  was  advanced  to  the  second  degree  of 
the  ministry. 

Elder  M.  J.  Thomas  and  wife  moved  to  New  Virginia,  and  on 
August  12,  1876,  he  was  received  and  accepted  as  the  shepherd  of 
the  flock.  On  August  31,  same  year,  Samuel  Keffer  was  elected 
deacon.  On  June  2,  1877,  Michael  Myers  was  elected  to  the 
ministry.  At  this  time  the  congregation  was  divided  into  two 
organizations,  the  eastern  part  known  as  the  Irish  Grove  church. 

In  the  New  Virginia  church,  on  June  13,  1878,  W.  W.  Folger 
was  elected  deacon ;  and  on  September  2j,  1879,  I.J.  Thomas  was 
ordained  elder,  and  John  Reither  and  Harrison  Shutt  were  elected 
deacons ;  and  on  May  1,  1880,  W.  W.  Folger  was  elected  minister, 
and  Jacob  Keffer  deacon. 

August  2,  1887,  the  church  met,  by  order  of  a  committee  sent  by 
annual  meeting,  namely,  S.  S.  Mohler,  B.  F.  Flora,  and  Michael 
'Sisler.  At  this  time  the  church  consisted  of  two  elders,  one  min- 
ister in  the  first  degree,  four  deacons,  and  about  thirty-three  lay 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  607 

members.  The  result  of  the  work  of  the  committee  was  the  with- 
drawal of  W.  W.  Folger,  minister;  Jacob  and  Samuel  Keffer, 
deacons ;  and  six  of  the  laity,  who  went  with  the  German  Baptists. 
M.  J.  and  I.  J.  Thomas,  elders ;  John  Reither  and  Harrison  Shutt, 
deacons,  and  twenty-seven  laity  remained,  and  were  formally 
received  by  the  Brethren  Church,  and  were  known  as  the  New 
Virginia  Brethren  Church.  They  built  a  church  house  in  the  town 
of  New  Virginia  in  the  summer  of  1892.  Dedication,  September 
11,  1892.  Sermon  preached  and  prayer  offered  by  H.  R.  Hol- 
singer.  Elder  M.  J.  Thomas  died  August  23,  1897.  Present 
membership  (1899),  thirty-four;  I.  J.  Thomas,  elder  and  pastor; 
E.  E.  Barber,  minister;  John  Reither  and  Harrison  Shutt, 
deacons ;  and  thirty  lay  members. 

NICKERSON,    KANSAS. 

This  congregation  was  moving  along  in  peace  and  harmony 
until  1883,  at  about  the  time  of  the  annual  meeting  at  Bismark 
Grove,  Kansas.  The  church  appointed  a  love-feast,  to  occur  about 
a  week  after  said  conference.  At  the  preliminary  council  it  was 
decided  that  all  members  of  the  church  in  good  standing  in  their 
home  congregation,  whether  conservative  or  progressive,  would 
be  welcome  to  the  communion.  When  the  time  came,  however, 
several  elders  from  Illinois,  and  Joseph  W.  Beer,  of  Ohio,  were 
present.  These  foreign  elders  forbade  the  communion  to  Brother 
Beer,  although  they  had  been  told  of  the  previous  action  of  the 
church.  After  the  examination  service,  Elder  Jacob  W.  Beer 
again  took  the  vote  of  the  church,  and  it  was  almost  unanimously 
agreed  to  stand  by  their  former  action. 

This  action  of  the  elders  planted  the  seeds  of  discord  and 
division. 

The  trouble  continued  to  foment,  until  finally,  on  December  3, 
1883,  a  committee  of  adjoining  elders,  consisting  of  John  Forney 
and  J.  B.  Shirk,  visited  the  church,  and  a  meeting  was  held,  when 
the  following  business  was  transacted : — 

1.  An  attempt  was  made  to  place  a  deacon  on  this  committee, 
but,  as  an  elder  was  to  be  put  on  trial,  the  motion  was  defeated. 


608  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

The  following  charge  was  next  presented :  "That  our  elder, 
Jacob  W.  Beer,  is  guilty  of  advocating  progressiveism  openly, 
and  of  speaking  reproachfully  of  annual  meeting  and  its 
decisions." 

On  request  it  was  stated  that  by  progressiveism  is  implied  the 
doctrines  set  forth  in  "Progressive  Principles  Defined."  To  this 
charge  Brother  Beer  plead  guilty,  with  the  explanation  that  he 
believed  in  progression  according  to  2  Peter  1  :5~8. 

After  some  deliberation,  a  motion  was  passed  to  separate  in 
peace,  and  to  treat  each  other  as  Christian  friends.  It  was  passed 
by  a  vote  of  twenty-three  in  the  affirmative  and  two  in  the  negative. 

The  division  was  then  called  for,  when  nine  stood  up  as  pro- 
gressive, and  twelve  as  conservative,  four  remaining  neutral. 

The  progressives  unanimously  adopted  the  following  resolu- 
tion :  "That  the  gospel  alone  is  sufficient  rule  for  our  faith  and 
practice,  containing  all  things  necessary  to  salvation,  and  there- 
fore we  adopt  it  as  our  creed,  and  resolve,  by  the  help  of  the  Lord, 
to  live  according  to  its  teachings. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  we  be  known  as  the  Brethren  Church  of 
Nickerson,  Kansas." 

About  one  hundred  and  two  members  have  belonged  to  this 
church  at  different  times,  but  at  present  there  are  only  thirty 
members  enrolled.  The  congregation  has  a  neat  church  on  Main 
Street,  Nickerson.  It  is  located  near  the  Santa  Fe  Depot.  It 
was  dedicated  on  Easter  Sunday  of  1897,  with  an  indebtedness 
of  $275,  which  is  now  almost  paid.  The  church  holds  quarterly 
business  meetings  and  love-feasts,  and  has  an  evergreen  Sun- 
day-school and  King's  Children  Society. 

NORTHERN    INDIANA. 

On  Friday  evening,  October  23,  1874,  Brethren  F.  A.  Hen- 
dricks, of  Missouri,  and  J.  C.  Cripe,  from  South  Bend,  Indiana, 
preached  their  first  sermon  at  Dunlaps,  Elkhart  County,  Indiana, 
under  the  title  of  Congregational  Brethren.  On  the  28th  of  the 
same  month  they  held  the  first  communion  meeting,  at  the  house 
of  Brother  David  Garver.  The  week  previous  they  had  preached 
in  Michigan  and  at  Bristol,  Indiana. 


OLD    COVENTRY    CHURCH 


OLD    WELTY    CHURCH 
In  which  Dr.  Jacob  Fahrney  preached.     A  new  house  has  been  built  on  the  same  spot. 


Iw^g 

•~l  jfeS'   *             tf 

IBSliHBgBBMOiyiUlhBBm 

1     I                ^sJ 

H        * 

HP",  <?? '                 Ik 

i'H'ffinM 

jlljjjljljj^^ 

OLD  GREEN  TREE  CHURCH 


OLD  PRICE  CHURCH 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  609 

The  preaching  was  generally  in  schoolhouses,  having  no 
church  buildings  of  their  own.  Some  of  the  old  brethren  com- 
plained to  the  township  trustee,  and  had  him  order  them  to  stay 
out  of  the  schoolhouses.  They,  however,  frequently  occupied 
the  schoolhouses  themselves. 

In  the  fall  of  1877  six  members  met  at  the  house  of  Brother 
Leonard,  and  there  determined  to  build  a  house  of  worship  which 
they  could  call  their  own.  The  work  was  prosecuted  under  the 
greatest  difficulty,  and  was  finished  the  following  winter.  It  was 
dedicated  on  the  second  Sunday  in  January,  1879,  Brother  J.  C. 
Hutchinson  preaching  the  dedicatory  sermon.  The  first  hymn 
sung  within  its  sacred  walls  was  that  familiar  old  hymn  "How 
Tedious  and  Tasteless  the  Hour!" 

On  Saturday  night,  January  25,  1878,  J.  C.  Cripe  and  D.  S. 
Cripe  commenced  a  protracted  meeting  of  two  weeks.  The  word 
preached  seemed  to  have  great  effect.  At  this  meeting  D.  S. 
Cripe  was  advanced  to  the  office  of  elder,  J  C.  Cripe  already  hold- 
ing that  office. 

Probably  this  was  the  first  church  edifice  in  the  state  of  Indiana 
built  under  the  name  of  the  Brethren.  At  the  Dayton  conven- 
tion, June,  1882,  the  Congregational  Brethren  consolidated  with 
the  progressives,  and  the  convention  adopted  the  name  Brethren. 
Glorious  old  name !     The  name  I  love  so  dearly  ! 

Brother  A.  R.  Bemenderfer  is  present  pastor,  and  the  con- 
gregation prospers  under  his  leading. 

NORTH    LIBERTY,    INDIANA. 

Location,  North  Liberty,  St.  Joseph  County,  Indiana.  This 
church  was  organized  November  27,  1896,  by  Elder  J.  N.  Miller. 
The  charter  members  were  six.  Present  membership,  twenty- 
five.  Deacon,  Daniel  Steel.  At  present  this  church  is  under  the 
care  of  the  district  evangelist. 

NORTH     SOLOMON,     KANSAS. 

This  church  is  located  in  Osborne  and  Smith  Counties.  It  was 
organized  by  D.  O.  Brumbaugh,  in  1883.  There  were  fourteen 
charter  members,  namely : — 

39 


6lO  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

D.  O.  Brumbaugh,  Susan  Brumbaugh,  S.  H.  Brumbaugh,  Alice 
Brumbaugh,  Daniel  Shook,  Alice  Shook,  J.  H.  Walters,  H.  C.  H. 
Walters,  Ellen  Tetlow,  G.  J.  Walters,  Joseph  Aspen  and  wife,  and 
Brother  and  Sister  Gibson. 

This  little  band  had  pledged  themselves  together  to  stand  upon 
the  gospel  alone  before  the  general  conference  in  1884. 

Brother  D.  O.  Brumbaugh  was  ordained  to  the  eldership  by 
Elders  C.  Forney  and  J.  Arnsburger,  in  the  fall  of  1884,  which 
office  he  filled  honorably  until  his  death,  February  13,  1897. 
Having  united  with  the  church  in  his  early  life,  he  had  become 
strong  in  the  faith.  He  was  self-sacrificing,  earnest,  and  lived 
a  life  that  yet  speaks.  Through  his  care  and  labors  many  were 
brought  to  the  fold. 

The  last  two  years  of  his  life  Elder  A.  B.  Rath,  of  Burr  Oak, 
Jewell  County,  Kansas,  became  an  assistant  elder  to  Brother  D. 
O.  Brumbaugh,  who  did  all  he  could  to  advance  the  work  of  the 
church  ;  but,  being  afflicted  with  lung  trouble,  he  could  not  do  as 
much  as  he  desired.  This  dear  brother  died  March,  1897,  a  little 
over  a  month  after  the  death  of  D.  O.  Brumbaugh.  C.  Forney 
took  oversight  of  the  church  for  one  year,  when  G.  J.  Walters,  the 
pastor,  was  ordained  to  the  office  of  elder. 

Since  the  organization  the  church  increased  in  number,  until,  at 
present,  they  number  some  sixty  members,  besides  many  that  have 
moved  away.  Brother  Brumbaugh  lived  to  see  his  children  bap- 
tized, and  shortly  before  his  death  his  son,  Wm.  Brumbaugh,  was 
chosen  to  the  ministry.  They  have  a  commodious  church  house 
in  Portis,  a  small  town  on  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad. 

OAKVILLE,    INDIANA. 

Location,  Oakville,  Delaware  County,  Indiana.  This  church 
was  organized  September  8,  1886,  by  Elder  J.  H.  Swihart.  The 
number  of  charter  members  was  seven,  viz.,  Jacob  T.  Holsinger 
and  wife,  Isaac  Holsinger  and  wife,  Elder  D.  K.  Teeter  and  wife, 
and  a  sister  not  recorded.  The  organization  was  followed  by  a 
revival  meeting,  conducted  by  Elder  Swihart,  in  which  forty-six 
accessions  were  made  to  the  church.     In  the  summer  following 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  6ll 

the  organization,  a  house  of  worship  was  erected.  The  dedi- 
catory services  were  conducted  by  H.  R.  Holsinger,  August  8, 
1887.  The  present  membership  is  one  hundred  and  nine,  all 
sound  in  the  faith,  and  willing  workers  for  the  Master. 

This  church  has  a  large  Sunday-school,  which  holds  fifty-two 
sessions  a  year ;  preaching  service,  two  Sundays  of  each  month ; 
a  mid-week  prayer-meeting ;  a  young  people's  society ;  and  a  Sis- 
ters' Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  all  doing  excellent  work  for 
Christ  and  the  church.  The  present  pastor,  L.  W.  Ditch,  entered 
upon  his  third  year's  service  December  1,  1899. 

OAKLAND,    PENNSYLVANIA. 

As  early  as  1884  it  became  evident  that  a  division  in  the  German 
Baptist  Church  at  Oakland  was  inevitable,  if  a  Bible  standard  of 
Christian  liberty  was  to  be  maintained.  The  deacons  insisted  that 
annual  meeting  decision  must  be  enforced.  And,  in  order  to  hold 
the  working  element  of  the  church  in  check,  the  meeting-house 
was  locked  against  them.  One  case  which  accelerated  the  divi- 
sion was  that  of  a  woman  who  made  application  for  baptism,  and 
was  requested  to  go  to  Plum  Creek,  a  distance  of  twenty-five 
miles,  to  be  baptized,  simply  because  Jacob  K.  Gilmore  was  only 
in  the  first  degree  of  the  ministry  at  that  time.  As  the  applicant 
was  in  limited  circumstances,  she  could  not  go  so  far.  The  dea- 
cons then  proposed  that  she  should  wait  until  they  could  get  some 
one  who  was  properly  authorized  to  administer  the  ordinance.  In 
the  meantime  the  woman  passed  to  the  unseen  world  without 
baptism.  Then  the  question  arose,  Who  is  responsible?  And 
the  answer  was,  The  deacons  and  the  annual  meeting.  About 
this  time  they  conceived  the  idea  of  getting  rid  of  the  trouble 
makers,  to  accomplish  which  they  circulated  a  paper,  which  they 
said  would  root  out  the  progressive  elements.  This,  however, 
met  with  some  opposition.  The  rest  of  this  story  is  the  same 
which  has  been  so  often  repeated. 

On  December  11,  1886,  a  Brethren  Church  was  organized,  with 
eighteen  charter  members.  These  covenanted  together  to  take 
the  Bible,  the  whole  Bible,  and  nothing  but  the  Bible,  as  their  law 


6l2  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

in  religion.  Brother  J.  B.  Wampler  was  requested  to  take  charge 
of  the  congregation  as  elder.  He  continued  to  preach  for  them 
until  August  26,  1888,  when  D.  J.  Hetric  was  called  to  the  min- 
istry and  became  pastor  of  the  church. 

A  church  building  was  purchased  and  moved  to  Oakland.  In 
1895  the  church  numbered  thirty-eight  members.  In  March,  1895, 
Brother  Hetric  resigned  his  charge,  and  Arthur  D.  Hetric,  who 
had  been  ordained  to  the  ministry  June  5,  1892,  took  charge  of 
the  church.  The  church  property  is  estimated  at  $800.  The 
deacons  are  John  Shoemaker,  Thomas  W.  Adams,  and  Henry 
Weaver. 

OHIO  STATISTICAL  REPORT. 

No.  of  organized  congregations  reporting 23 

No.  of  members 1,822 

No.  added  by  baptism  during  year 91 

No.  added  by  letter 25 

No.  lost  during  year 28 

Net  gain  in  state  during  year 88 

No.  of  church  houses  owned 23 

No.  of  Sunday-schools   23 

No.  of  scholars,  1,199;  officers,  129;  teachers,  132;  total.  . .  .1,460 

No.  of  Sisters'  Societies 20 

No.  of  young  people's  societies 8 

Value  of  church  houses $36,300 

Value  of  two  parsonages $1,800 

Amount  paid  for  pastors'  salary $4*250 

Amount  paid  for  missions $568.15 

Amount  paid  for  local  expenses $i>554 

No.  of  authorized  ministers  in  state 24 

Congregations  not  included  above,  which  failed  to  report 4 

Estimated  membership    25° 

Church  houses  owned 2 

There  are  scattered  members  in  the  state  which  are  not  included 
in  above  total.  A  safe  estimate  of  total  membership  would  be 
two  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty,  with  twenty-seven  organ- 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  613 

ized  congregations.  Amount  paid  for  missions  does  not  include 
$1,000  raised  for  the  Dayton  church  property,  which  has  been 
bought  since  conference.  J.  Allen  Miller. 

PHILADELPHIA,,     PENNSYLVANIA. 

An  account  of  this  congregation  would  be  incomplete  without 
a  short  review  of  the  conditions  existing  at  the  time  of  its  organ- 
ization. For  many  years  the  so-called  progressive  ideas  in  the 
German  Baptist  Brethren  Church  had  found  hearty  response  and 
encouragement  at  Philadelphia.  To  such  extent  had  this  grown 
that,  when  the  Ashland  convention  of  1882  was  held,  the  Phila- 
delphia church  so  far  committed  herself  to  the  brethren  cause  as 
to  send,  without  opposition,  the  elder  of  the  church  to  represent 
them  in  that  convention.  The  advice  and  rules,  and,  later,  the 
decrees  and  laws  of  the  annual  meeting  of  the  church  were  almost 
wholly  ignored,  being  observed,  if  at  all,  at  the  convenience  of 
the  individual.  The  church,  as  such,  made  no  effort  at  enforce- 
ment, and  open  non-conformity  to  annual  meeting  had  come  to 
be  a  cardinal  principle  at  Philadelphia. 

A  combination  of  circumstances,  involving  personal  and  other 
differences,  combined  with  an  effort  to  ally  the  church  with  the 
annual  meeting,  led,  after  various  unsuccessful  efforts  to  adjust, 
to  the  organization  of  a  separate  congregation.  A  series  of  meet- 
ings was  begun  January  9,  1887,  in  a  chapel  that  was  being  used 
by  the  mission  Sunday-school  of  the  church,  at  Fourth  and  York 
Streets.  During  these  meetings  ten  applications  for  baptism  were 
received. 

A  paper  was  drawn  up  and  signed  as  follows : — 

"Philadelphia,  Jan.  20,  1887. 

"Whereas,  There  have  been  difficulties  in  the  church  of  the 
Brethren  of  Philadelphia  for  the  past  three  years  of  so  complex 
a  nature  that  it  is  impossible  to  adjust  them  without  a  glaring 
sacrifice  of  principle ;  and, 

"Whereas,  We  have  sought  to  bring  about  peace  and  settle  our 
difficulties,  without  success,  it  is  hereby 

"Resolved,  That  we,  the  undersigned  members  of  said  church, 


614  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

do  organize  ourselves  into  a  separate  organization,  taking  the 
Word  of  God  as  our  guide,  to  be  governed  by  such  rules  as  may 
hereafter  be  adopted.  Jacob  C.  Cassel,  Henry  C.  Cassel,  E.  E. 
Roberts,  Charles  W.  Kinsing,  Emma  Friese,  P.  B.  Clymer,  W. 
Kolb,  Jr.,  Hattie  Cassel,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Roberts,  Frank  Balderston, 
Mary  A.  Balderston,  Lydia  Trupp,  Rebecca  P.  Balderston,  Emma 
J.  Moyer,  Horace  Kolb,  Mrs.  P.  B.  Clymer,  William  Kolb,  Anna 
Cassel,  Edward  Crees,  Mary  C.  Kolb,  Sarah  Shader." 

In  accordance  with  the  above,  at  a  meeting  held  January  24, 
1887,  the  Brethren  Church  of  Philadelphia  was  formally  organ- 
ized. This  organization  was  incorporated  September  18,  1888, 
under  the  following  charter: — 

CHARTER    OF    THE    BRETHREN    CHURCH    OF    PHILADELPHIA. 

"To  the  Honorable  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
in  and  for  the  City  and  County  of  Philadelphia — 
"In  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  an  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  entitled,  'An  act 
to  provide  for  the  incorporation  and  regulation  of  certain  cor- 
porations,' approved  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  seventy-four,  and  the  supplements  thereto, 
the  undersigned,  all  of  whom  are  citizens  of  Pennsylvania,  having 
associated  themselves  together  for  the  support  and  maintenance 
of  public  worship,  in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament,  and  desiring  that  they  may  be 
incorporated  according  to  law,  do  hereby  certify  : — 

"First.  The  name  of  the  proposed  corporation  is  'The  Breth- 
ren Church  of  Philadelphia.' 

"Second.  Said  corporation  is  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
worshiping  Almighty  God  in  accordance  with  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures of  the  New  Testament,  subject  to  the  following  doc- 
trines, principles,  and  constitution,  to  wit:  I.  The  name  to 
be  The  Brethren  Church  of  Philadelphia.'  2.  The  object, 
the  worship  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls.  3.  The  gos- 
pel of  Christ  to  be  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  Bap- 
tism, washing  of  feet,  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  communion  to  be 
ordinances  of  this  church.     4.  Baptism  shall  be  by  trine  immer- 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  615 

sion,  and  a  prerequisite  to  membership.  5.  The  officers  to  be 
pastor,  deacons,  secretary,  treasurer,  and  trustees,  the  trustees 
to  be  laymen.  Maximum,  one  deacon  for  every  fifty  members  and 
fraction  thereof ;  two  deacons  a  minimum.  6.  The  control  of 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  affairs  of  the  church  shall  be  by  the 
congregation,  as  far  as  practicable.  Regular  quarterly  meetings 
for  the  transaction  of  business  relating  to  the  affairs  of  the  church 
to  be  on  the  second  Tuesday  night  of  the  months  of  January,  April, 
July,  and  October  respectively.  7.  Special  meetings  for  business 
relating  to  the  church  to  be  called  by  the  secretary  upon  applica- 
tion of  seven  members  of  the  church,  said  application  to  be  in 
writing,  and  to  state  the  object  of  the  meeting.  If  for  any  cause 
the  secretary  shall  be  unable,  or  shall  neglect  or  refuse,  to  perform 
the  duty  set  forth  in  this  clause,  that  duty  shall  devolve  upon  the 
deacons,  who  shall  thereupon  select  one  or  more  of  their  number 
therefor  as  may  be  required.  8.  A  quorum  for  business  relating 
to  the  church,  shall  be  twelve  members  of  the  church.  9.  The 
right  to  vote  upon  all  business  relating  to  the  church  to  be  only 
by  members  of  the  church,  each  to  be  entitled  to  one  vote.  10. 
There  shall  be  nine  trustees  ;  no  person  not  a  member  of  the  church 
to  be  a  trustee.  11.  The  deacons  to  attend  to  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  wants  of  the  church,  sign  all  certificates  of  membership 
granted  by  the  church,  and  perform  such  other  duties  as  may  be 
delegated  to  them  by  the  church,  from  time  to  time.  12.  The  sec- 
retary to  keep  correct  minutes  of  all  business  meetings,  a  correct 
roll  of  the  membership  of  the  church,  attest  all  bills  whose  pay- 
ment shall  have  been  ordered  by  the  church,  take  of  all  church 
records  and  documents,  call  all  special  meetings  by  sending  due 
notices,  or  by  using  such  other  means  of  communication  to  secure 
meetings  as  may  be  directed  by  the  church.  13.  The  treasurer  to 
receive  all  moneys  belonging  to  the  church,  and  pay  out  the  same 
only  as  ordered  or  authorized  by  the  church  from  time  to  time, 
and,  in  every  case,  keep  an  itemized  account  of  all  moneys  received 
and  of  all  moneys  paid  out ;  furnish  reports  of  the  same  to  the 
church  at  every  and  each  regular  quarterly  meeting ;  and  perform 
such  other  duties  as  may  be  delegated  to  him  by  the  church.     The 


6l6  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

treasurer's  report  shall  comprise  receipts  and  expenditures  to  the 
first  day  of  the  month  in  which  it  is  made.  14.  The  trustees  to 
perform  similar  duties  to  those  performed  by  trustees  of  other 
corporations  under  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania,  and  such  other  duties 
consistent  with  their  office  as  may  be  required  of  them  by  the 
church.  15.  The  pastor  not  to  be  called  for  a  longer  term  of 
service  than  one  year,  and  no  pastor's  term  shall  be  longer  than 
one  year,  unless  he  be  regularly  elected  in  the  same  manner  as  he 
was  before  his  first  term.  The  secretary  and  treasurer  shall  be 
elected  for  three  years  respectively,  except  in  the  case  of  those  first 
elected  who  shall  serve  until  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  ninety.  The  trustees  shall  be  elected,  three 
each  year,  to  serve  for  a  term  of  three  years,  except  in  the  case  of 
those  first  elected,  three  of  whom  shall  serve  until  the  first  day  of 
January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  eighty-nine,  three  until  the 
first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety,  and 
three  until  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
ninety-one.  Vacancies  in  office,  except  in  the  pastorate  and  dea- 
conate,  shall  be  filled  by  the  church  by  election  for  the  unexpired 
term.  16.  There  shall  be  an  advisory  board  of  six  members  of  the 
church,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  endeavor  to  make  satisfactory 
adjustment  of  such  cases  as  may  come  before  it.  17.  The  church 
shall  be  the  judge  of  its  own  membership.  All  cases  of  objection 
to  the  reception  of  any  person  as  a  member  of  the  church,  and  all 
difficulties  arising  from  cases  of  controversy,  complaint,  dissatis- 
faction, or  similar  causes,  excepting  such  cases  as  are  provided  for 
in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew,  in  the  New  Testament,  shall 
be  brought  before  the  advisory  board.  18.  The  advisory  board  to 
be  elected  two  each  year,  for  a  term  of  three  years  ;  but  at  the  first 
election  six  shall  be  elected,  two  to  serve  until  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary, one  thousand  eight  hundred  eighty-nine,  two  to  the  first  day 
of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  ninety,  and  two  to  the 
first  dav  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  ninety-one.  No 
person  to  be  elected  two  terms  in  succession.  Vacancies  to  be 
filled  by  election  by  the  church  for  any  and  all  unexpired  terms. 
19.  No    amendments  to  be  proposed    to  this    charter    except    by 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  617 

authority  of  at  least  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the  church  pres- 
ent at  a  regular  quarterly  meeting,  and  the  proposed  amendment 
or  amendments  not  to  be  passed  unless  offered  at  least  one  quar- 
terly meeting  prior  to  voting  upon  the  same. 

"Third.  The  business  of  said  corporation  to  be  transacted  in 
the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia. 

"Fourth.     Said  corporation  to  be  perpetual. 

"Fifth.  The  names  and  residences  of  the  subscribers  are  as  fol- 
lows :  Jacob  C.  Cassel,  1207  Columbia  Avenue ;  El  wood  E.  Rob- 
erts, 2335  Frankford  Avenue ;  Henry  C.  Cassel,  1916  Germantown 
Avenue ;  Peter  B.  Clymer,  532  Susquehanna  Avenue  ;  Aaron  Wag- 
ner, 509  West  York  Street ;  William  Kolb,  Jr.,  924  West  Somer- 
set Street ;  Franklin  Balderston,  2360  East  York  Street ;  William 
Kolb,  924  West  Somerset  Street;  Edward  Crees,  1706  Uber 
Street;  Charles  Rinsing,  2715  North  Fourth  Street;  John  Duke 
McFaden,  2437  North  Eighth  Street ;  Jacob  Markley,  2433  North 
Eighth  Street;  Hyman  L.  Sands,  2125  Melcher  Street;  Edwin 
Fahrney,  2437  North  Eighth  Street. 

"Sixth.  The  names  and  residences  of  the  trustees  chosen  for 
the  first  year  are ;  Jacob  C.  Cassel,  1207  Columbia  Avenue,  presi- 
dent ;  Elwood  E.  Roberts,  2335  Frankford  Avenue ;  Henry  C. 
Cassel,  1916  Germantown  Avenue ;  Peter  B.  Clymer,  532  Sus- 
quehanna Avenue ;  Aaron  Wagner,  509  West  York  Street ; 
William  Kolb,  Jr.,  924  West  Somerset  Street ;  Franklin  Balder- 
ston, 2360  East  York  Street ;  William  Kolb,  924  West  Somer- 
set Street;  Edward  Crees,  1706  Uber  Street. 

"Seventh.  The  amount  of  real  estate  to  be  held  by  said  cor- 
poration not  to  exceed  in  value  what  would  yield  an  income  of 
twenty-thousand  dollars  annually,  and  the  amount  of  personal 
property  not  to  exceed  the  said  amount  of  the  real  estate. 

"Witness  our  hands  and  seals  this  thirteenth  day  of  July,  Anno 
Domini,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-eight. 

"(Signed)  Jacob  C.  Cassel,  E.  E.  Roberts,  Henry  C.  Cassel, 
Peter  B.  Clymer,  Aaron  Wagner,  William  Kolb,  Jr.,  Franklin 
Balderston,  William  Kolb,  Edward  Crees,  Charles  W.  Rinsing, 


6l8  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

John  Duke    McFaden,    Jacob    M.  Markley,    Hyman    L.  Sands, 
Edwin  Fahrney." 

Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,   ^    sg 
City  and  County  of  Philadelphia.     J 

"Before  me,  the  subscriber,  recorder  of  deeds  of  said  county, 
personally  appeared  Jacob  C.  Cassel,  E.  E.  Roberts,  and  Henry 
C.  Cassel,  three  of  the  subscribers  to  the  above  and  foregoing 
certificate  of  incorporation  of  the  Brethren  Church  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  in  due  form  of  law  acknowledged  the  same  to  be  their 
act  and  deed.  Witness  my  hand  and  official  seal  this  thirteenth 
day  of  July,  Anno  Domini  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighty-eight. 

" (Signed)       Jos.   K.  Fletcher,  Deputy  Recorder." 
"County  of  Philadelphia,  ss. 

"Filed  in  the  office  of  the  Prothonotary  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas  in  and  for  said  county  this  thirteenth  day  of  July, 
Anno  Domini  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-eight. 

"(Signed)     C.  B.  Roberts,  Deputy  Prothonotary:" 

"In  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  No.  I  in  and  for  the  city  and 
county  of  Philadelphia.  And  now,  the  eighteenth  day  of  Sep- 
tember, a.  d.  1888,  the  above  charter  and  certificate  of  incorpora- 
tion having  been  presented  to  the  court,  accompanied  by  due 
proof  of  publication  of  notice  thereof,  and  no  cause  having  been 
shown  to  the  contrary,  it  is  on  motion  of  John  Scollay,  Esquire, 
ordered  that  upon  the  recording  of  the  same,  and  of  this  decree, 
the  said  charter  of  the  Brethren  Church  of  Philadelphia  afore- 
said be  and  the  same  is  hereby  approved,  and  that  the  subscribers 
thereto  and  their  associates  shall  be  a  corporation  by  the  name 
of  'The  Brethren  Church  of  Philadelphia,'  for  the  purpose  and 
upon  the  terms  therein  stated ;  and  the  said  charter  appears  to 
be  in  proper  form  and  lawful,  and  not  injurious  to  the  commu- 
nity. (Signed)  Craig  Biddle, 

"Judge  C.  C.  P.  No.  1. 

"Recorded  in  the  office  for  recording  of  deeds  in  and  for  the 
city  and  county  of  Philadelphia  in  Charter  Book  13,  page  571,  etc. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  619 

"Witness  my  hand  and  seal  of  office  this  nineteenth  day  of 
November,  a.  d.  1888.  (Signed)    Jos.  K.  Fletcher, 

"Deputy  Recorder  of  Deeds." 

The  Fourth  and  York  Streets  chapel  was  used  until  the  first 
Sunday  in  June,  1889,  when  the  place  of  meeting  was  changed 
to  Tenth  Street,  below  Dauphin  Street,  as  property  formerly 
owned  by  another  denomination,  from  whom  it  had  been  pur- 
chased for  $4,500.  Alterations  and  improvements  of  various 
kinds  made  the  cost  of  the  property  about  $5,000. 

The  active  membership  of  the  church  is  about  one  hundred, 
exclusive  of  the  mission  points. 

The  following  have  served  as  pastors :  John  Duke  McFaden, 
April  1,  1887,  to  April  1,  1890;  George  W.  De  Bolt,  April  1, 
1890,  to  October  1,  1890;  John  B.  Rittgers,  April  1,  1891,  to 
April  1,  1892;  Isaac  D.  Bowman,  November  1,  1892,  to  present 
date  (April  1,  1900). 

Missions  have  been  established  and  churches  built  at  Ridgley, 
Maryland ;  Allentown,  Pennsylvania ;  and  Croton,  New  Jersey. 
Of  the  twenty-one  original  members  all  are  yet  living,  after  a 
lapse  of  thirteen  years,  and  all  but  three  are  yet  active  in  the 
church. 

PITTSBURG,  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  First  Brethren  Church  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  owes 
its  existence  to  the  efforts  of  Daniel  J.  Bole,  who  moved  to  the 
city,  April  1,  1887,  and,  finding  no  church  of  his  faith,  he  asso- 
ciated himself  with  the  Thirty-seventh  Street  Baptist  Church, 
becoming  one  of  the  teachers  in  its  Sunday-school.  He  labored 
here  six  months,  when  the  church  was  divided,  and  one-half 
withdrew,  and  started  what  was  known  as  the  Messiah  Baptist 
Church,  Brother  Bole  going  with  them.  He  was  chosen  super- 
intendent of  the  Sunday-school.  Later,  he  resigned  his  position, 
to  organize  a  Sunday-school  of  the  Brethren  faith.  The  Sun- 
day-school was  organized  November  3,  1889,  in  Vaughn's  Hall, 
on  Liberty  Avenue,  sixteenth  ward.  The  school,  which  numbered 
forty-three,   grew  rapidly,   until   in   three  months    one   hundred 


620 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


and  fifty  scholars  were  enrolled.  During  this  time  were  was 
preaching  for  the  brethren,  Sunday  morning  and  evening,  by 
H.  Dermit,  a  retired  Methodist  minister,  who  filled  the  pulpit 
up  to  the  date  of  the  organization. 

On  January  23,  1890,  J.  D.  McFaden  went  to  Pittsburg,  and 
formed  an  organization,  known  as  the  First  Brethren  Church 
of  Pittsburg.  The  original  members  were  D.  J.  Bole,  D.  K. 
Bole  and  wife,  I.  C.  Bole  and  wife,  Harry  Griffith  and  wife,  James 

S.  Larely,  Mrs.  Mary  Hanna, 
Mrs  Ruth  Maloy,  and  Misses 
Bella  and  Nettie  Reynolds. 
The  first  five  members  of  this 
list  held  their  membership  at 
Conemaugh,  Pennsylvania,  up 
to  the  organization  of  the 
above  church.  The  remaining 
seven  were  baptized  by 
Brother  McFaden,  January 
25,  1890. 

The  following  officials  were 
elected :  Deacons,  D.  J.  Bole 
and  J.  C.  Larely ;  secretary, 
Mrs.  D.  K.  Bole ;  treasurer, 
Harry  Griffith ;  board  of 
trustees,  I.  C.  Bole,  D.  K. 
Bole,  and  Mrs.  Maloy,  not 
a  member.  On  January  26,  the  seven  that  were  baptized  were 
confirmed,  and  the  deacons  ordained. 

Until  April  6,  1890,  the  church  was  under  the  supervision  of 
Deacon  D.  J.  Bole,  and  the  pulpit  was  filled  from  February  2 
until  April  6  by  the  following  brethren :  J.  B.  Wampler,  R.  Z. 
Replogle,  A.  D.  Gnagey,  W.  A.  Adams,  and  Daniel  Crofford. 

Then  J.  C.  Mackey  served  from  April  6  to  May  4,  1890,  when 
J.  D.  McFaden  returned,  and  became  its  regular  pastor.  Under 
his  care  thirty  were  added  by  baptism  and  six  by  letter.  The 
congregation  purchased  three  lots  on  Dearborn  Street,  whereon 
a  modest  frame  building  was  erected. 


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PITTSBURG    CHURCH 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  62  I 

Application  for  a  charter  was  made  August  8,  1891,  by  twenty- 
seven  charter  members,  through  Attorney  J.  J.  Miller,  son  of 
Elder  Jacob  D.  Miller,  of  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania.  The 
charter  was  granted  September  8,  1891. 

Elder  McFaden  remained  with  the  church  until  September  27, 
1 89 1.  John  G.  Snider  had  charge  of  the  church  from  October  4, 
1 89 1,  until  March  27,  1892.  W.  L.  Spanogle  served  them  from 
April  1,  1892,  until  September  24,  1893. 

On  October  1,  1893,  Deacon  D.  J.  Bole,  by  a  unanimous  request 
of  the  church,  was  ordained  to  the  eldership,  by  P.  J.  Brown, 
J.  C.  Macky,  and  W.  L.  Spanogle. 

Samuel  Clyde  was  ordained  as  deacon,  to  fill  the  vacancy 
caused  by  advancing  D.  J.  Bole. 

Brother  Bole  then  took  charge  of  the  church,  beginning  Octo- 
ber 1,  1893,  ending  August  4,  1895.  During  the  several  periods 
he  had  charge  of  the  church,  there  were  seventy-four  accessions. 

Henry  Wise  had  charge  of  the  church  from  August  4,  1895, 
until  April  26,  1896.  J.  I.  Hall  and  W.  H.  Miller  filled  the 
pulpit  a  short  time. 

Roger  E.  Darling  took  charge  on  April  i,  1898,  and  has  charge 
at  the  present  time. 

The  present  membership  of  the  church  is  132. 

The  congregation  is  contemplating  the  erection  of  a  new  house 
of  worship. 

The  Sunday-school  consists  of  fourteen  classes  and  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  scholars. 

Prayer-meeting  services  are  held  every  Wednesday  evening, 
and  communion  services  the  last  Thursday  evening  of  every 
quarter. 

PLEASANT    HILL,    OHIO. 

This  church  had  its  beginning  in  the  year  1874,  with  Elder 
John  Cadwalader  at  its  head.  He  was  a  minister  in  the  German 
Baptist  Church  for  fifty-five  years.  The  last  five  years  of  his 
life  he  was  an  elder  and  pastor  of  the  congregation  Brethren 
Church,  having  for  their  creed  the  "Bible  alone."     This  organiza- 


622  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

tion  was  commenced  in  the  fall  of  1874,  with  a  membership  of 
twenty,  who  had  withdrawn  from  the  German  Baptist  Church. 
These  members  were  in  nowise  below  the  average  of  the  Ger- 
man Baptists  from  whom  they  withdrew.  The  direct  cause  of 
the  withdrawal  was  due  to  the  ostracism  of  Elder  Cadwalader 
for  preaching  plain  gospel,  which  the  German  Baptists  believed 
and  practiced  in  some  localities,  the  preaching  of  which  was  for- 
bidden by  the  mandates  of  annual  conference.  He  preached  what 
he  believed,  and  practiced  what  he  preached.  Elder  Cadwal- 
ader, with  these  members,  assembled  at  the  house  of  Elias  Teeter 
for  the  purpose  of  consummating  the  organization. 

In  the  spring  of  1875,  by  tne  aid  of  John  Flora,  an  able 
preacher  from  Virginia,  the  membership  was  increased  to  forty. 
At  this  time  Elias  Teeter,  of  Pleasant  Hill,  was  ordained  by 
Elders  Flora  and  Cadwalader  to  preach,  and  later  on  he  was  pastor 
for  a  number  of  years.  From  this  time  of  Flora's  help,  the 
work  moved  forward,  though  hindered  now  and  then  by  reverses. 
They  obtained  help  and  strength  after  the  Brethren's  national 
convention  at  Dayton,  in  1883,  when  the  Pleasant  Hill  congre- 
gation was  consolidated  with  the  Progressive  Brethren,  who 
adopted  the  name  of  Brethren.  There  were  other  local  minis- 
ters in  the  district,  namely,  Michael  S.  Deeter  and  H.  G.  Ullery. 
About  the  time  1885,  Edward  S.  Miller,  of  Maryland,  was 
employed  as  pastor  for  one  year;  then  Edward  Mason  served 
them  three  years ;  Isaac  Kilhefner,  two  years ;  A.  A.  Cober,  three 
years ;  then  W.  W.  Summers,  followed  by  A.  J.  Baughman.  At 
this  time  (1899)  M.  S.  White  is  pastor. 

PLEASANT  VALLEY,   MICHIGAN. 

The  beginning  of  this  church  dates  with  the  attendance  of 
Brethren  Walter  Clark  and  J.  E.  Gould,  of  the  Dayton  conven- 
tion. For  that  act  a  charge  was  brought  against  them.  It  was, 
however,  never  pressed  nor  sustained.  After  some  dallying, 
Brethren  J.  W.  Beer  and  J.  C.  Cripe  were  called,  and  a  meeting 
was  held  on  June  23,  1883.  At  that  meeting  a  church  was  organ- 
ized, and  named  Pleasant  Valley  Congregation  of  the  Brethren 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  623 

Church.  It  is  located  in  the  vicinity  of  Dowagiac,  Cass  County, 
Michigan.  Walter  Clark  was  chosen  pastor,  and  was  ordained 
to  the  eldership. 

At  a  church  meeting  in  the  German  Baptist  Church  it  was 
agreed  to  use  the  house  alternately,  but  presently  the  German 
Baptist  brethren  became  dissatisfied,  and  demanded  that  a  final 
decision  of  the  property  question  must  be  made.  They  required 
that  the  brethren  should  fix  a  price  that  they  would  either  give 
or  take.  The  brethren  agreed  to  give  or  take  $300.  The  Ger- 
man Baptists  quickly  took  up  the  offer,  and  paid  the  $300  for  a 
$1,400  house.  The  brethren,  with  this  nucleus  of  $300,  raised 
a  subscription,  and  built  a  new  house,  at  an  expense  of  about 
$1,400.  The  house  was  dedicated  January  24,  1886,  by  Brother 
C.  A.  Price.  The  services  were  followed  by  a  protracted  meet- 
ing, in  which  about  twenty-five  persons  were  added  to  the  church. 

J.  M.  Ritgers  served  as  pastor  for  about  four  years,  without 
much  good  result. 

This  church  has  had  its  good  share  of  troubles,  but  through 
through  a  difficulty  in  regard  to  the  title  for  the  church  property 
by  a  brother  who  joined  the  Freemasons,  and  finally  left  the 
church.  After  the  church  title  was  quieted,  the  house  burned 
down  on  the  evening  of  March  22,  1891.  The  church  recovered 
$928.04  from  the  insurance  company.  They  built  a  new  house 
about  two  miles  south  of  where  the  former  church  stood.  It  is 
called  Bethel.  This  house  was  dedicated  December  6,  1891,  by 
John  Palmer. 

This  church  has  had  its  good  share  of  troubles,  but  through 
all  of  them  a  few  of  the  charter  members  still  remained  faithful. 
The  congregation  held  the  state  conference  of  1899. 

Brother  Walter  Clark  has  been  the  indefatigable  pastor  and 
elder  of  this  congregation,  with  the  exception  of  the  four  years 
mentioned  above,  from  its  organization  to  the  present  time.  He 
offers  us  the  following  synopsis  : — 

Organized  June  23,  1883,  with  sixteen  members. 

Average  membership  for  sixteen  years   25 

Charter  members  still  living 14 

Albert  Clark,  deacon,  and  Walter  Clark,  pastor  and  elder. 


624  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

PLEASANT  VIEW,   INDIANA. 

The  Pleasant  View  church,  Elkhart  County,  is  located  four 
miles  north  of  the  beautiful  city  of  Goshen.  It  was  first  known 
as  the  Indian  Creek  church.  The  house  was  dedicated  Novem- 
ber 13,  1 88 1,  by  Elder  W.  W.  Summers.  Ten  years  afterward 
the  brethren  sold  it  to  the  United  Brethren,  and  built  another 
house,  known  as  Pleasant  View.  This  house  was  dedicated  in 
October,  1891.  A.  R.  Bemenderfer  is  their  present  elder  and 
pastor.  There  is  a  membership '  of  about  seventy-five.  George 
Neff,  deceased,  was  elder  of  this  church  for  many  years. 

PLEASANT   VIEW,    KANSAS. 

Pleasant  View  church  is  located  in  Neosho  County,  Kansas. 
It  grew  out  of  an  organization  known  as  the  Pleasant  Valley 
church,  under  German  Baptist  rule.  The  Valley  congregation 
was  disorganized  by  Elders  Moses  T.  Baer  and  Christopher 
Kingery,  November  9,  1883.  Pleasant  View  was  a  mission  point, 
but  was  duly  organized  in  February  of  1888,  with  a  membership 
of  sixteen,  under  the  leadership  of  Elder  A.  J.  Hixson.  A  neat 
little  church  building  was  erected  and  paid  for  in  1889.  A.  J. 
Hixson  was  retained  as  pastor  until  1896,  when  he  resigned. 
For  some  time  the  little  band  was  without  a  shepherd.  In  the 
spring  of  1897,  W.  J.  Hannan,  of  Moline,  Illinois,  was  induced 
to  settle  among  them,  and  remained  as  their  pastor  until  the 
fall  of  1898.  Under  Brother  Hannan's  pastorate  the  member- 
ship attained  about  sixty  in  number.  Though  scattered,  regular 
meetings  were  kept  up  until  the  resignation  of  Brother  Hannan, 
since  which  time  no  regular  appointments  are  maintained,  nor 
Sabbath-school  organization  supported.  A  resident  minister  in 
this  case,  as  in  many  other  instances,  is  absolutely  necessary  in 
order  to  success  and  prosperity.  Elder  A.  J.  Hixson. 

PONY     CREEK.      KANSAS. 

Location,  three  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Morrill. 

I  took  charge  of  the  church  at  Pony  Creek,  May  I,  1889,  and 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  625 

continued  with  it  in  the  capacity  of  pastor  during  the  three  sub- 
sequent years.  I  found  about  one  hundred  members,  and  the 
church-property  question  settled  by  the  Brethren  buying  the  half 
interest  claimed  by  the  German  Baptists.  They  would  have 
claimed  more  but  for  the  fact  that  the  ground  upon  which  the 
building  stood  was  owned  by  Jacob  Lichty,  a  progressive,  who 
would  not  deed  the  property  to  the  German  Baptist  Church  for 
their  exclusive  use. 

This  church  had  a  mission  point  at  a  schoolhouse  five  miles 
east  of  the  Pony  Creek  church,  where  I  organized  a  Sunday- 
school,  and  preached  twice  every  alternate  Sunday.  The  church 
increased  in  numbers  until  during  the  last  year  of  my  pastorate 
(1892)  it  numbered  one  hundred  and  eighty  members. 

The  church  then  divided  by  mutual  consent,  the  west  part 
retaining  the  meeting-house  at  Pony  Creek,  and  the  east '  part, 
numbering  sixty-two  members,  organized  under  the  name  of  the 
Bethany  Church. 

A  new  church  house  was  built  near  the  Little  Chapel  school- 
house,  and  the  church  entered  on  a  separate  mission,  with  J.  D. 
McFaden  as  its  pastor.  May  17,  1895.  a  terrible  tornado  swept 
over  this  part  of  Kansas,  which  destroyed  both  the  Pony  Creek 
and  Bethany  churches.  The  church  at  Pony  Creek  rebuilt  its 
house  on  the  old  site,  but  a  disagreement  between  the  members 
of  the  Bethany  church,  regarding  the  best  location  for  rebuild- 
ing the  new  church,  finally  terminated  in  building  two  new 
churches,  one  on  the  site  of  the  former  Bethany  church,  and  the 
other  in  the  town  of  Hamlin. 

J.  H.  Burnworth  is  now  the  pastor  for  the  Pony  Creek  and 
Bethany  churches,  and  J.  D.  McFaden  preaches  for  the  church 
at  Hamlin,  and  also  for  the  Carleton,  Nebraska,  church. 

E.  L.  Yoder. 

ROANN,   INDIANA. 

The  Brethren  Church  of  Roann,  Indiana,  was  organized  at 
Creek's  schoolhouse,  in  Miami  County,  Indiana,  on  June  20,  1880, 
with  eleven  charter  members.  They  were  known  as  the  Con- 
gregational Brethren.     The  following  spring  a  revival  effort  at 

40 


626  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Eureka  schoolhouse,  in  Wabash  County,  south  of  Roanu,  resulted 
in  twenty  accessions  to  this  little  band,  J.  H.  Swihart  doing  the 
preaching. 

On  June  9,  1883,  this  church  united  with  the  Brethren  Church. 
When  Elder  Swihart  resigned,  he  left  a  band  of  eighty-five  mem- 
bers. Following  him  came  Wm.  W.  Summers,  W.  C.  Perry, 
J.  M.  Bowman,  L.  W.  Ditch,  and  the  present  pastor,  Louis 
Bauman. 

This  church  has  had  the  names  of  over  three  hundred  upon 
her  rolls,  and  at  present  numbers  nearly  two  hundred  twenty, 
although  many  of  them  are  isolated  from  her  services  by  distance. 

This  church  is  the  mother  of  the  New  Enterprise  congregation. 

Present  organization :  Pastor,  Louis  S.  Bauman ;  resident  min- 
ister, Wm.  J.  H.  Bauman ;  deacons,  Shelby  Arthur,  John 
Brower,  John  Lowman,  Henry  Bowman ;  deaconesses,  Sarah 
Zook,  Hannah  Lowman,  Laura  Bowman ;  clerk,  Tt  Calvin  Leslie., 

ROUND   HILL,  VIRGINIA,  AND  E.  B.   SHAVER. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1885,  fourteen  sisters  and  twenty  breth- 
ren met  in  a  schoolhouse  at  Tom's  Brook,  Virginia,  and  organ- 
ized as  a  congregation.  E.  B.  Shaver  was  chosen  chairman,  and 
John  H.  Wisman  secretary.  All  expressed  themselves  as  firm  in 
the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  there  being  no  change  in  their  minds  as 
to  the  gospel  requirements.  Six  of  this  number  were  deacons, 
and  E.  B.  Shaver  in  the  second  degree  of  the  ministry.  Brother 
Shaver  was  a  successful  merchant,  as  well  as  a  prominent 
preacher  in  the  German  Baptist  Church,  sound  in  doctrine,  but 
not  in  harmony  with  its  government.  After  the  organization  of 
the  Brethren  Church  he  discontinued  his  mercantile  business,  and 
for  five  years  devoted  his  time  to  preaching  the  gospel,  without 
remuneration.  In  less  than  one  year  the  congregation  num- 
bered one  hundred  and  six.  Each  year  were  added  unto  them  by 
relations  and  baptism,  until  congregations  of  Brethren  were 
spread  over  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  From  the  counties  of 
Shenandoah,  Rockingham,  Warren,  and  Frederick,  came  calls  to 
the  preacher  of    the  valley  for  the  gospel-alone  doctrine.      The 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  627 

work  continued  to  grow,  until  now  there  are  organizations  in  each 
of  the  above  counties,  and  mission  points  in  the  eastern  part  of 
Virginia  and  in  West  Virginia. 

In  the  southwestern  part  of  the  state  Elder  D.  C.  Moomaw 
came  to  the  assistance  of  the  brethren.  He  has  proven  himself 
a  strong  man  for  gospel  truth,  and  in  that  section  of  the  state 
there  is  quite  a  healthful  growth  of  church  work.  The  names  of 
the  deacons  of  the  Maurertown  organization  were,  George  W. 
Copp,  John  E.  Copp,  John  W.  Hockman,  John  H.  Wisman,  John 
W.  Leedy,  and  David  J.  Crabill.  George  S.  Rinker,  of  Reliance, 
was  in  the  second  degree  of  the  ministry.  He  proved  to  be  a  val- 
uable helper  in  the  local  work  of  the  church  in  Warren  County,  and 
at  all  times  a  willing  Aaron  to  Brother  Shaver,  the  Moses  of  the 
Valley,  in  the  struggle  for  gospel  liberty. 

SALEM,   INDIANA. 

The  Salem  Brethren  Church  is  located  in  Carroll  County, 
Indiana.  It  was  organized  in  October,  1889,  with  thirteen 
charter  members.  The  church  building  is  in  Burlington  Town- 
ship. It  is  a  frame,  thirty-six  feet  by  forty-eight  feet.  The 
first  pastor  was  J.  H.  Swihart.  The  present  pastor  is  D.  A. 
Hopkins,  and  there  are  now  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  members. 

SALISBURY,  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  First  Brethren  Church  of  Salisbury,  Pennsylvania,  was 
organized  November  17,  1895,  with  thirty-two  members,  hav- 
ing its  beginning  in  the  home  of  Brother  Samuel  L.  Livengood, 
where  six  members,  namely,  Samuel  L.  Livengood  and  wife, 
Stewart  Smith  and  wife,  Mrs.  Peter  L.  Livengood,  and  Mrs.  Annie 
Wagner,  met  on  November  6,  for  prayer  and  conference,  in  view 
of  maintaining  a  church  among  them. 

This  congregation  is  located  in  Elk  Lick,  Somerset  County, 
Pennsylvania,  and  has  now  eighty-nine  members.  Elder  John 
Crawford  Mackey  organized  the  church,  and  has  been  its  pastor 
to  this  date  (November  20,  1899). 

The  Salisbury  church  owns  a  substantial  brick  meeting-house, 


628  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

with  a  seating  capacity  of  about  three  hundred,  and  is  an  inde- 
pendent pastorate,  that  is,  it  supports  its  own  minister,  who 
devotes  his  full  time  to  the  work. 

SILVER   CREEK,   OHIO. 

The  church  was  organized  in  1882,  the  business  meeting  being 
presided  over  by  Elder  William  Kiefer,  Pleasant  Home,  Ohio. 
The  charter  members  were  as  follows : — 

Elder  D.  M.  Rittenhouse,  Amanda  Rittenhouse,  A.  K.  Brown 
(deacon),  Amanda  Brown,  William  Finacle,  Nancy  Finacle, 
Elder  Fisk,  Hannah  Fisk,  Ambrose  Fisk,  Alice  Fisk,  Rule  Fisk, 
J.  W.  Keiser  (minister),  Anna  Reiser,  Samuel  Keiser,  Sarah 
Reiser,  Lydia  J.  Reiser,  James  Snyder,  Lizzie  Snyder,  William 
Shiley,  Hester  Shiley,  James  Turner,  Sarah  Turner,  George  Trax- 
ler,  Caroline  Traxler,  David  Thompson,  Barbara  Thompson,  Etta 
Wallace,  Lizzie  Wallace,  Minda  Eberly,  Jacob  Gipe,  Mary  Gipe, 
Mary  Holstein,  William  Huff,  Josephine  Huff,  Cyrus  Rimmel, 
Eliza  Rimmel,  John  Martin,  Susan  Martin,  David  Martin,  Eliza 
Martin,  Mary  Martin,  Susan  Rhodes,  Samuel  Baker,  Lydia  Baker, 
Mary  Baker. 

Elder  David  M.  Rittenhouse  was  first  pastor  and  elder,  and 
was  succeeded  in  the  office  of  pastor  by  J.  H.  Swihart,  J.  H. 
Palmer,  A.  M.  Ridenour,  Martin  Shively,  W.  A.  Welty,  and  S. 
B.  Grisso,  but  Brother  Rittenhouse  has  remained  its  elder  to 
this  time. 

The  first  church  building  erected  by  this  congregation  is  known 
at  Mount  Pleasant  Church,  and  is  in  the  extreme  west  end  of 
the  congregation,  or  eight  miles  from  its  center.  The  building 
was  finished  and  dedicated  in  1883,  the  dedication  service  being 
conducted  by  Brother  J.  H.  Swihart.  Until  1894,  services  were 
regularly  held  in  the  Hickory  Grove  church,  in  the  center  of  the 
congregation.  This  edifice  was  owned  by  the  German  Baptist 
brethren,  who,  in  1894,  refused  to  allow  the  continuance  of  this 
privilege.  This  necessitated  the  building  of  another  church, 
which  was  undertaken  almost  at  once.  The  house,  a  beautiful 
and  commodious  structure,  with  many  of  the  modern  conven- 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  629 

iences,  such  as  furnace  and  baptistry,  was  completed  in  the  autumn 
of  1895,  when  it  was  dedicated,  November  10,  by  the  former 
pastor,  Martin  Shively,  and  was  given  the  name  of  Bethesda 
Church. 

The  growth  of  this  congregation  has  from  the  first  been  slow, 
but  steady,  and  the  kind  heavenly  Father  is  deserving  of  much 
praise  for  His  goodness. 

SOUTHERN    CALIFORNIA. 

The  first  work  performed  in  southern  California,  known  to  the 
author  of  this  work,  was  performed  by  H.  R.  Holsinger,  in 
October,  1883.  During  my  first  visit  to  California,  in  the  year 
above  mentioned,  it  was  arranged  through  correspondence  by 
the  Lathrop  brethren  that  I  should  visit  San  Diego,  and  preach 
and  baptize  several  converts  at  that  place. 

I  went  there,  preached  several  sermons,  and  on  Saturday, 
October  20,  I  baptized  three  young  persons,  namely,  Jacob, 
Moses,  and  Ida  Frick,  children  of  Brother  W.  R.  Frick.  On 
Sunday  evening,  October  21,  we  held  a  communion  at  the  house 
of  Brother  Frick,  in  which  six  of  us  participated,  to  wit,  Brother 
Frick  and  wife,  three  young  persons  mentioned  above,  and 
myself.  I  also  met  a  Brother  and  Sister  Matthews,  of  El  Cajon, 
but  their  circumstances  did  not  permit  them  to  remain  for  the 
communion. 

No  attempt  was  made  to  organize  a  church  or  form  a  class,  and 
the  work  performed  has  had  no  farther  visible  results. 

The  next  effort  put  forth  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state  was 
made  in  1892.  Elder  M.  M.  Eshelman,  who  then  lived  at  Lords- 
burg,  and  who  had  united  with  the  Brethren  Church  in  the  spring 
of  1892,  and  was  one  of  the  promoters  of  the  Lordsburg  College, 
was  instrumental  in  inducing  me  to  visit  that  part  of  the  state, 
with  the  view  of  organizing  a  church.  After  a  week's  preach- 
ing, eight  persons  joined  in  forming  a  congregation,  with  Brother 
Eshelman  as  pastor.  The  work  seemed  to  prosper,  and  several 
persons  were  added  to  the  number.  In  1893  a  number  of  mem- 
bers opened  a  colony,  and  established  a  town  called  Rosena,  and 


630  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

a  church  was  organized  in  December  of  the  same  year.  Elder 
John  Nicholson  was  selected  as  pastor.  The  charter  members 
were  the  following:  John  Nicholson  and  wife,  Maggie  Hill, 
M.  M.  Eshelman  and  wife,  M.  M.  Negley  and  wife,  Naomi  Neg- 
ley,  T.  J.  Nair,  H.  R.  Holsinger  and  wife,  Catharine  Showalter, 
and  Susan  Dubble,  and  perhaps  a  few  others. 

Brother  P.  S.  Garman  held  a  protracted  meeting  at  Rosena 
in  May,  1894,  when  two  persons  were  baptized,  namely,  Alice 
Slotter  and  Louisa  Albaugh.  And  on  May  28,  a  communion  was 
held,  at  which  thirteen  persons  participated,  all  members  of  the 
congregation  except  Brother  Garman.  A  Sunday-school  was 
also  organized,  and  a  weekly  prayer-meeting  was  sustained. 

In  the  same  year  a  church  was  organized  in  Los  Angeles,  of 
which  Brother  Eshelman  was  made  pastor.  I  was  present  at  a 
Sunday  afternoon's  service,  when  three  young  ladies  were  bap- 
tized in  the  pool  of  the  Disciple  Church.  When  Brother  Eshel- 
man returned  to  the  German  Baptists,  the  classes  at  Los  Angeles 
and  Lordsburg  were  left  without  a  pastor,  and  soon  scattered 
abroad  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd. 

The  Rosena  colonists  discovering  their  mistake  of  locating  a 
colony  without  water  for  irrigating  purposes,  became  discouraged, 
and  began  to  scatter  abroad,  until  at  the  present  time  Brother  and 
Sister  Nicholson  and  their  daughter,  Sister  Maggie  Hill,  are 
the  only  members  remaining  at  Rosena. 

Most  of  the  members,  however,  who  remained  in  that  part  of 
the  state,  maintained  their  integrity  and  kept  the  faith,  although 
many  suffered  greatly  from  the  want  of  church  ministrations. 
Brother  Nicholson  faithfully  stood  by  his  post  until,  like  Casa- 
blanca, "all  but  he  had  fled."  Having  passed  the  threescore  and 
ten  years,  and  being  without  means  of  support,  he  could  not 
preach  from  home. 

There  being  a  continual  immigration  of  members  from  other 
parts  of  the  country,  and  a  constant  development  of  progressive 
views  among  the  German  Baptists,  the  necessity  of  keeping  alive 
the  Brethren  cause  continued  to  exist,  and  a  demand  was  made 
to  the  mission  board  of  the  Pacific  Conference  to  send  an  evan- 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  63  I 

gelist.  In  response  to  the  request,  Brother  Martin  Shively, 
pastor  of  the  Lathrop  church,  was  sent  there  on  a  three-weeks 
mission,  in  June  of  1900.  After  preaching  and  visiting  for  sev- 
eral weeks,  an  organization  was  effected  on  the  16th  of  June, 
when,  several  persons  having  been  baptized,  thirty-five  names 
were  enrolled.  Brother  B.  F.  Schisler,  a  minister  elect  who  had 
come  from  Auburn,  Illinois,  and,  for  a  time,  was  located  at  Santa 
Ana,  was  chosen  pastor.  Sister  M.  M.  Negley  was  elected  sec- 
retary ;  Sister  Susan  Dubble,  treasurer ;  and  Sister  Laura  Slotter, 
corresponding  secretary.  Brother  Shively  was  chosen  elder. 
Brother  Schisler  moved  to  Lordsburg  July  I,  and,  being  full  of 
zeal,  entered  upon  the  work  assigned  him  in  great  earnest.  A 
hall  was  rented  and  equipped,  a  Sunday-school,  prayer-meeting, 
Sunday-school  Christian  Endeavor,  and  other  adjuncts  were 
organized. 

On  October  1,  1900,  Brother  Shively  was  sent  on  another  mis- 
sion, remaining  ten  days.  During  this  last  visit  a  council  meet- 
ing was  called,  and  Brother  Schisler  was  unanimously  elected  to 
the  eldership,  and  was  ordained  and  placed  in  full  charge  of  the 
church,  whose  membership  had  in  the  meantime  increased  to 
seventy ;  but,  unfortunately,  they  are  scattered  over  a  large  terri- 
tory, embracing  practically  all  of  southern  California.  There  are 
five  elders  in  the  territory,  namely :  John  Nicholson,  Rosena ; 
Jonathan  Myers,  Pasadena;  B.  R.  Gerhart,  Westminster;  W.  S. 
McClain,  Los  Angeles ;  and  B.  F.  Schisler,  Lordsburg.  Brother 
M.  M.  Negley,  San  Bernardino,  and  Brother  Jacob  Lapp  are  the 
deacons.  Sister  Laura  Slotter,  the  corresponding  secretary, 
resides  at  North  Ontario. 

SOUTH    HAVEN.,   KANSAS. 

The  South  Haven  Brethren  Church  is  located  six  miles  north- 
west of  South  Haven,  Sumner  County.  It  was  organized  in  the 
spring  of  1883,  Brethren  A.  G.  Black  and  D.  Harader  officiating. 
There  were  twelve  charter  members.  Brother  Black,  first  pastor, 
served  until  the  time  of  his  death,  December,  1883.  D.  Harader 
served  three  years.     On  April  2,   1887,  W.  J.  H.  Bauman  was 


632  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

called  as  assistant  pastor,  and  served  one  year  or  more.  During 
the  next  few  years,  A.  P>  Gibson  did  some  ministerial  work. 
Elder  H.  R.  Holsinger  preached  to  an  appreciative  congregation. 
In  the  spring  of  1893  Jacob  W.  Beer  was  called  to  the  work,  and 
served  about  two  years.  The  present  pastor,  L.  G.  Wood,  took 
charge  May  1,  1898.  J.  P.  Blue  has  been  church  clerk  since  it 
was  organized. 

Death  list :  Elder  and  Sister  A.  G.  Black,  H.  J.  Frantz,  and 
Maud  Jones. 

At  present  there  are  twenty  members. 

STONY  CREEK,   PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  Stony  Creek  congregation  was  organized  on  the  13th  day 
of  November,  1880.  Elders  present  were,  Joseph  Berkley,  Jonas 
A.  Lichty,  John  P.  Cober,  and  H.  R.  Holsinger.  Joseph  Berkley 
was  appointed  chairman  of  the  meeting.  J.  L.  Kimmel  and  A.  J. 
Miller  were  elected  to  the  ministry.  J.  G.  Kimmel  and  Jonathan 
J.  Kimmel  were  elected  deacons.  Josiah  Kimmel  and  W.  M. 
Walker  had  been  elected  deacons  under  the  old  Brothers'  Valley 
congregation,  which  was  divided  into  four  separate  congregations. 

H.  R.  Holsinger  was  chosen  to  preside  over  said  congregation. 
Benjamin  Musser  was  elected  secretary,  and  Samuel  Landis 
treasurer.  That  completed  the  organization,  with  seventy-five 
members. 

Said  congregation  met  in  council  at  the  Kimmel  church,  on  the 
1 2th  day  of  March,  and  decided  to  move  the  said  church  to  a 
more  convenient  place  for  the  members.  A  place  was  selected 
at  the  Berlin  road  to  the  Stoystown  pike  on  the  farm  of  J.  G. 
Kimmel,  and  it  was  agreed  to  build  an  addition  of  fifteen  feet  to 
the  old  church.     This  was  done  the  same  year. 

The  building  committee  consisted  of  J.  G.  Kimmel,  William 
Stull,  and  Josiah  Kimmel.  The  church  was  dedicated  on  the 
25th  day  of  September,  1881.  Dedicatory  services  were  con- 
ducted by  S.  H.  Bashor  and  H.  R.  Holsinger.  It  was  dedicated 
in  the  name  of  the  "Home  Church,"  and  followed  by  a  series  of 
meetings  by  Bashor.      Fourteen   were   baptized.      J.  L.  Kimmel 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  633 

and  A.  J.  Miller  were  ordained  to  the  eldership  at  the  same  time 
by  H.  R.  Holsinger.  Alvin  Cober  followed  Holsinger,  then 
J.  L.  Kimmel,  A.  J.  Miller,  S.  W.  Wilt,  Silas  Hoover,  J.  H. 
Knepper,  B.  C.  Moomaw,  J.  D.  McFaden,  M.  C.  Meyers.  Pres- 
ent pastor,  P.  M.  Swinehart.  J.  G.  Kimmel. 

SUGAR     CREEK,     IOWA. 

In  1893  the  writer  was  the  only  member  in  Tama  County, 
except  Brother  and  Sister  Ebersole,  who  lived  twelve  miles  east, 
but  not  known  to  me  at  that  time.  In  the  fall  of  1893  Brother 
S.  H.  Bashor  held  a  meeting,  during  which  eight  came  forward. 
In  1894  Brother  S.  J.  Harrison  held  another  meeting,  and  three 
more  came  out.  Then  he  organized  us.  I  had  been  a  minister 
in  the  German  Baptists,  and  I  was  set  apart  as  pastor.  We  held 
meetings  in  an  old  United  Brethren  Church  for  about  two  years. 
During  that  time  I  baptized  nine  persons.  Then  two  of  our 
brethren's  families  moved  to  Mississippi,  taking  five  members  out 
of  our  congregation,  and  two  crossed  the  river  of  death.  Then 
we  moved  our  appointments  to  a  schoolhouse,  where  we  held 
services  until  January  I,  1899,  during  which  time  we  baptized 
five  more. 

January  1,  1899,  we  completed  our  church,  and  it  was  dedi- 
cated by  Brother  J.  L.  Gillin,  of  Waterloo,  Iowa. 

In  June,  1899,  Brother  Gillin  held  a  protracted  meeting,  at 
which  time  forty  were  baptized  and  three  taken  in  by  relation. 
Since  then  we  baptized  two  more,  and  took  in  two  by  relation. 
We  numbered  about  ninety.  We  have  meetings  twice  each  Sun- 
day, and  a  good  Sunday-school.  We  have  started  a  Sunday- 
school  library,  which  has  about  thirty-five  volumes.  I  have  been 
pastor  of  the  congregation  since  it  was  organized. 

Fetter   Hall. 

Montour,  Iozva. 

SUMMIT    MILLS,    PENNSYLVANIA. 

Location,  Summit  Mills,  Somerset  County. 

This  church  was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1883,  in  the  Miller 


634  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

schoolhouse,  by  Elder  P.  J.  Brown.  There  were  seven  members 
that  stood  up  for  the  gospel-alone  doctrine,  John  A.  Miller  and 
wife  and  oldest  daughter,  W.  H.  Miller  and  wife,  and  S.  P. 
Meyers  and  his  son  Albert. 

An  effort  was  made  to  purchase  a  half  interest  in  the  old 
church,  but  failed.  In  1884  a  church  was  built,  thirty  feet  by 
forty-five  feet,  at  a  cost  of  $1,000.  A.  D.  Gnagey  was  pastor 
from  the  beginning.  The  Sunday-school  was  organized  in  the 
schoolhouse  in  the  spring  of  1884,  before  the  church  was  built. 
About  five  years  later  a  vestibule  was  built ;  the  bell,  organ,  chan- 
delier, and  carpet  were  purchased  at  a  cost  of  $500,  making  the 
present  cost  of  the  church  property  $1,500,  all  paid  for. 

If  all  that  united  with  this  congregation  were  living,  and 
remained  on  the  church  roll,  they  would  number  one  hundred  and 
two  members.  There  are  eighty-six  living  members  on  the 
church  book ;  about  eighty  in  attendance  at  Sunday-school. 

John  A.  Miller,  elder;  John  H.  Knepper,  pastor. 

SUNNYSIDE,   WASHINGTON. 

A  congregation  was  organized  at  Sunnyside,  Washington, 
sometime  during  the  last  months  of  the  year  1900. 

There  were  twelve  charter  members,  whose  names  were :  Elder 
S.  J.  Harrison  and  wife,  P.  J.  Lichty  and  wife,  H.  M.  Lichty  and 
wife,  Mrs.  Cora  Gorden,  Homer  L.  Brown,  Daniel  J.  Yoder  and 
wife,  Harry  Lichty,  and  Roy  C.  Lichty.  Brother  Harrison  was 
pastor  of  the  church.  An  effort  was  also  put  into  operation  by 
which  a  union  church  was  expected  to  be  built  in  the  near  future. 

TIOSA,    INDIANA. 

The  Tiosa  Brethren  Church  is  located  at  Tiosa,  Fulton  County, 
Indiana.  The  organization  was  effected  on  December  26,  1883, 
with  seventeen  charter  members.  J.  A.  Ridenour  was  the  first 
pastor.  The  house  of  worship  is  a  frame,  thirty-six  feet  by  fifty- 
four  feet.  The  present  membership  is  forty-five,  and  the  pastor 
is  D.  A.  Hopkins. 


BRETHREN    CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  635 

TURLOCK,    CALIFORNIA. 

Turlock  Brethren  Church  was  organized  May,  1891,  Elder 
Jonathan  Myers  presiding.  There  were  seven  charter  members, 
as  follows :  C.  Ronk  and  wife,  D.  W.  Ronk  and  wife,  John  Ronk, 
Elizabeth  Bennett,  and  Elizabeth  Dunlap.  The  first  pastor  was 
Brother  Jonathan  Myers,  who  was  also  state  evangelist.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Z.  H.  Copp,  also  state  evangelist.  Then  Elder  P.  S. 
Garman,  who  served  the  church  one  year.  Martin  Shively  came 
in  the  autumn  of  1896,  and  has  served  the  church  ever  since. 
The  present  membership  is  fifty. 

G.  T.  and  D.  E.  Ronk  are  young  preachers  from  this  congre- 
gation. 

UNIONTOWN,   PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  First  Brethren  Church  of  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania,  was 
organized  at  the  house  of  Sister  A.  D.  Johnson,  December  14, 
1900. 

The  following  officers  were  chosen  by  unanimous  vote:  John 
Thompson,  deacon;  Howard  A.  Moser,  W.  O.  B.  Davis,  John 
Thompson,  trustees  ;  Miss  Layola  Hague,  secretary ;  Mrs.  A.  D. 
Johnson,  treasurer.  Lookout  committee,  A.  D.  Johnson,  Howard 
Moser,  John  Thompson,  S,  S.  Schrock,  Mrs.  Eliza  Smith,  Miss 
Mollie  Gans,  Miss  Layola  Hague.  L.  A.  Hazlett,  pastor;  J.  D. 
Gantz,  local  elder. 

There  are  about  thirty  members  in  the  congregation,  and  it  is 
expected  that  several  from  the  Grove  church  will  join  this 
church.  This  is  undoubtedly  the  last  congregation  of  the  Breth- 
ren Church  organized  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Brother  L.  A. 
Hazlett  presided  at  the  organization,  and  was  chosen  elder  of 
the  church. 

VALLEY,   PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  Valley  Brethren  Church,  at  Jones  Mills,  Pennsylvania, 
was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1883,  by  Elder  J.  B.  Wampler,  with 
a  membership  of  twenty-three.  Of  this  little  band  Elder  James 
M.  Bennett  was  pastor,  John  Horner  and  Daniel  L.  Myers  dea- 
cons, and  W.  A.  Harmon  clerk. 


636  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

The  new  organization  met  from  time  to  time  in  schoolhouses, 
and  the  pastor  was  assisted  in  the  care  of  the  flock  by  Brethren 
J.  B.  Wampler  and  Stephen  Hildebrand. 

In  the  fall  of  1884  these  two  brethren  held  a  revival  for  this 
class.  They  asked  for  the  use  of  the  German  Baptist  meeting- 
house at  the  county  line,  but  were  refused.  Our  brethren  and 
their  friends  then  prepared  a  place  for  worship  under  the  trees 
near  by.  The  seats  were  slabs,  and  the  stand  and  pulpit  of  rough 
boards.  Here  the  little  band  met  and  worshiped  God.  Their 
pulpit  and  stand  were  destroyed  one  night  after  service.  This 
unkind  act  on  the  part  of  their  enemies  aroused  the  indignation 
of  the  people  of  the  neighborhood,  and  through  the  sympathy 
which  followed,  money  was  raised  to  build  the  church  that  now 
stands  and  opens  its  doors  every  Lord's  day  for  the  gathering 
together  of  God's  people  to  worship.  Brother  David  Young 
donated  the  ground  on  which  to  build  the  church  and  $100  to 
start  the  good  work.  Others  at  once  followed  his  liberal  exam- 
ple, and  in  the  following  May  the  new  church  was  completed  and 
dedicated.  Brother  Wampler  had  charge  of  the  dedicatory  serv- 
ices, and  was  assisted  by  Brother  Hildebrand.  It  is  a  modest 
frame  structure  that  will  comfortably  seat  three  hundred  people. 
Within  its  walls  seventy-five  souls  have  confessed  Christ  as  their 
Saviour,  and  were  received  into  the  church. 

The  congregation  has  been  served  by  the  following  pastors : 
James  M.  Bennett,  Stephen  Hildebrand,  J.  W.  Smouse,  James 
Pamplin,  John  G.  Snyder,  William  A.  Harmon,  and  Marcus  A. 
Witter.  At  present  (December,  1899)  the  membership  numbers 
about  sixty.  They  have  a  good  Sunday-school,  and  a  working 
Young  People's  Society  that  meets  weekly.  Preaching  services 
are  held  twice  on  each  alternate  Sunday. 

WARSAW,    INDIANA. 

Warsaw  church,  Indiana,  was  organized  in  1892,  with  forty- 
two  charter  members.  Brother  L.  W.  Ditch  was  the  first  pastor. 
Brother  C.  F.  Yoder  took  charge  in  1894,  and  remained  pastor 
to  the  close  of  the  century.     Present  membership,  two  hundred 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL. 


637 


and  forty.  Church  property  valued  at  $2,100.  Sunday-school 
numbers  one  hundred  and  sixty-five ;  forty-five  in  home  class. 
Sisters'  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  forty-two;  King's  Chil- 
dren, senior,  sixty-five;  junior,  forty. 

W.  C.  Perry,  elder ;  Jesse  Calvert,  resident  minister. 

Warsaw  is  in  the  location  of  Winona  Park,  where  the  Breth- 
ren's General  Conference  has  been  held  for  several  vears. 


WASHINGTON,  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 

The  First  Brethren  Church  of  Washington,  District  of  Colum- 
bia, was  organized  August  17,   1896,  I.  D.  Bowman  and  E.  B. 

Shaver  assisting  in  the  organ- 
ization. There  were  eighteen 
charter  members.  There  are 
now  in  the  city  twenty-five  mem- 
bers, and  outside  the  city  fif- 
teen ;  total,  forty  members.  W. 
M.  Lyon,  pastor. 

The  congregation  has  no 
house  of  worship,  but  holds 
services  in  a  hired  hall.  They 
have  a  Sunday-school  of  about 
sixty  scholars,  and  missionary  so- 
ciety of  twenty  members.  An 
effort  is  being  made  to  raise 
funds  to  build  a  church,  about  six  hundred  dollars  having  been 
received  at  the  time  of  writing. 


WARSAW    CHURCH 


WEST   INDEPENDENCE,   OHIO. 


This  church  was  organized  on  March  24,  1883,  by  Brother 
J.  H.  Worst.  Charter  members,  thirteen, — Lucinda  Ebersole, 
Grant  Ebersole,  Harry  Ebersole,  Joseph  Drenner,  Alice  Rosen- 
berger,  Emma  Leiber,  Justin  Bender,  Hattie  A.  Hazen,  Lee 
Hazen,  John  P.  Hazen,  Susanna  Leedy,  Mary  Bowers,  Jacob  C. 
Hazen. 


638  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

The  first  pastor  and  elder  was  Isaac  Kilhefner ;  the  second, 
A.  M.  Ridenour;  the  third,  Martin  Shively ;  the  fourth,  Isaac 
Ross  ;  the  fifth,  M.  S.  White ;  the  sixth,  S.  W.  Wilt.  The  church 
house  is  in  West  Independence,  Hancock  County,  Ohio,  and  was 
purchased  from  the  Evangelical  Church,  April  10,  1888.  It  is 
a  frame  building,  and  cost  six  hundred  dollars.  The  first  brother 
that  preached  at  this  place  was  H.  R.  Holsinger. 

WINCHESTER,  .OHIO. 

Location,  Gratis,  Preble  County. 

The  Winchester  church  was  organized  about  the  year  1885. 
R.  T.  Mallott  held  a  meeting  at  the  place  in  a  Methodist  Church, 
and  baptized  about  seventy  persons,  mostly  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Edward  Mason  was  the  first  pas- 
tor ;  A.  A.  Cober  was  his  successor.  These  were  followed  by 
J.  W.  Tombaugh  and  Martin  Shively ;  and  at  the  present  time 
the  church  is  in  charge  of  Josiah  Keim,  who  is  still  serving  his 
fourth  year.  They  have  a  good  house  of  worship,  and  a  new 
parsonage.  The  parsonage  was  built  by  the  Stover  family. 
This  church  has  an  evergreen  Sunday-school  of  about  one  hun- 
dred attendants,  a  Sisters'  Society,  and  eighty  working  members 
of  the  church,  all  in  peace  and  harmony. 

Note. — Elder  Josiah  Keim,  in  connection  with  his  church 
report,  adds:  "At  the  Ohio  State  Conference  of  1899,  twenty- 
seven  organizations  were  reported  for  the  state,  but  not  all  were 
represented  by  delegates." 

ZION   HILL,  OHIO. 

Zion's  Hill  church  is  located  four  miles  north  of  Smithville, 
Wayne  County,  Ohio.  It  was  first  a  mission  point  under  the 
care  of  the  Ohio  Home  Mission  Board,  and  was  partially  organ- 
ized by  enrolling  eleven  members — two  brethren  and  nine  sisters 
— and  electing  a  secretary  and  a  treasurer,  on  December  31,  1892. 
On  May  19,  1894,  it  was  fully  organized  into  a  church,  with 
sixteen  charter  members, — four  brethren  and  twelve  sisters, — 
electing  D.  L.  King  and  J.  W.  Funk  as  deacons.     Sister  Emma 


ASHLAND     COLLEGE     AND     DORMITORY 


64O  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

King  (now  Mrs.  Ed.  Steiner)  was  elected  secretary,  and  E.  L. 
Steiner  treasurer,  and  the  church  received  its  present  name. 
William  Kiefer,  of  Pleasant  Home,  was  then  chosen  as  thei>- 
pastor.  The  church  worships  in  a  union  house,  and  is  in  a 
prosperous  condition,  with  fifty-five  members.  William  Kiefer 
is  still  pastor. 

LITERATURE. 

The  Brethren  Church  lays  claim  to  an  excellent  line  of 
Sunday-school  literature,  and  an  ably-conducted  weekly  paper, 
called  the  Brethren  Evangelist.  The  office  is  located  in  the 
college  buildings,  at  Ashland,  Ohio.  The  college  management 
also  publishes  a  monthly  magazine,  entitled  Purple  and  Gold, 
which  is  an  honor  to  the  institution,  as  well  as  to  the  editors. 

The  only  school  under  the  auspices  of  the  church  is  Ashland 
College,  of  which  a  brief  history  will  be  found  elsewhere,  in 
addition  to  the  following  advertisement. 

ASHLAXD    COLLEGE. 

Ashland  College  is  located  at  Ashland,  a  beautiful  town  of  four 
thousand  inhabitants,  in  north  central  Ohio,  on  the  Erie  Railroad. 

The  location  is  unsurpassed  in  healthfulness.  The  college  site 
commands  fine  scenery,  and  is  most  admirably  adapted  for  col- 
lege purposes. 

The  college  building  is  a  large  and  elegant  structure,  built  of 
cut  stone  and  brick. 

The  boarding  hall  is  similar  in  construction  to  the  college 
building,  and  furnishes  a  splendid  home  to  those  who  room 
there. 

The  buildings  stand  in  the  midst  of  a  large  campus,  beau- 
tifully shaded.  The  grounds  were  never  more  attractive,  furnish- 
ing a  delightful  and  inspiring  place  for  the  student. 

Ashland  College  was  chartered  in  February,  1878,  and  incor- 
porated as  Ashland  University  in  July,  1888.  The  object  of  the 
friends  and  founders  is  to  maintain  a  college  or  university  for 
promoting  education,  morality,  religion,  and  the  fine  arts,  and  to 
secure  to  its  members  and  patrons  the  advantages  of  education  in 
all  departments  of  learning  and  knowledge. 


BRETHREN     CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL.  64I 

The  friends  of  the  college  greatly  rejoice  that  the  institution  is 
free  from  all  debt.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  board  of  trustees  to 
thoroughly  and  efficiently  equip  every  department  of  collegiate 
instruction. 

The  past  year  there  were  enrolled  about  seventy  students.  Of 
this  number  fifteen  are  preparing  for  the  ministry  of  the  gospel 
or  for  missionary  work.  A  number  of  young  people  have  written 
during  the  year  indicating  their  purpose  to  enter  upon  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  We  hope  in  the  next  few  years  to  enroll  many 
more  for  this  work.  But  the  work  of  the  college  is  not  limited 
to  this  particular  line  of  instruction.  Many  of  our  students  are 
doing  most  excellent  work  in  other  fields  of  labor. 

More  than  twenty  of  our  most  active  ministers  are  either 
graduates  of  the  college  or  have  been  students.  According  to 
the  records,  there  have  graduated  from  our  college  sixty-three 
persons. 


41 


CHAPTER   XVI 
BRETHREN   CHURCH— 'BIOGRAPHICAL 

S.    H.   BASHOR. 

Stephen  H.  Bashor,  the  most  successful  Tunker  revivalist  in 
the  history  of  the  denomination,  was  born  in  Washington  County, 
Tennessee,  August  15,  1852.  He  was  baptized  on  June  5,  18 — , 
by  Elder  Daniel  Glick.  He  was  called  to  the  ministry  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two  years,  and  almost  immediately  entered  the  evan- 
gelistic field,  meeting  with  signal  success  from  the  start.  He 
traveled  through  the  entire  brotherhood  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  and  preached  in  nearly  every  congregation,  from  three  to 
thirty  discourses  in  each  one.  It  has  been  estimated  that  ten 
thousand  persons  were  brought  into  the  church  through  his 
ministry. 

January  19,  1878,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Corda  Weller.  He 
took  a  course  in  the  National  School  of  Oratory  at  Philadelphia, 
graduating  in  1883. 

Brother  Bashor  also  served  his  people  in  the  capacity  of  an 
editor,  occupying  positions  on  the  Brethren  at  Work,  Gospel 
Preacher,  and  the  Progressive  Christian.  He  also  made  his  mark 
as  a  controversialist,  holding  at  least  three  discussions,  of  which 
two  were  published  in  book  form,  namely,  "Bashor  and  Berg- 
stresser,"  and  "Bashor  and  Dillon."  He  also  published  several 
smaller  works,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  "The  Gospel 
Hammer." 

To  Stephen  H.  Bashor  belongs  a  large  share  of  the  honor,  or 
ignominy,  of  the  great  division  in  the  Tunker  fraternity,  as  he  did 
as  much  in  agitating  the  various  subjects  which  created  the  dis- 
turbance as  any  other  brother.  And  he  was  also  one  of  the  most 
active  and  influential  men  in  the  organization  of  the  Brethren 
Church.  He  did  noble  work  for  a  number  of  years  in  that  body. 
Then  he  became  ambitious,  thirsting  for  worldly  glory.  He 
first  sought  it  in  the    lecture    field,  and    was    fairly  successful. 

(642) 


BRETHREN    CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  643 

Next  he  entered  the  political  arena,  running  for  Congress  in  three 
several  parties,  failing  in  each  case.     (Portrait  193.) 

LOUIS  S.  BAUMAN. 

Louis  S.  Bauman  was  born  near  Nora  Springs,  Iowa,  Novem- 
ber 13,  1875.  At  four  years  of  age  his  parents,  Elder  W.  J.  H. 
Bauman  and  Amelia  Bauman,  moved  to  Morrill,  Kansas.  Here, 
at  nine  years  of  age,  he  met  with  a  sad  accident,  having  his  right 
foot  completely  severed  from  his  body  by  a  mowing  machine. 
In  February,  1889,  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years,  he  united  with 
the  Brethren  Church  during  a  revival  held  by  his  father. 

He  completed  his  common-school  education  at  Lawrence, 
Kansas,  graduating  from  the  Lawrence  High  School.  Imme- 
diately after,  he  went  to  Morrill,  Kansas,  where,  on  July  2,  1893, 
he  preached  his  first  sermon,  from  the  text,  "O  God,  my  heart  is 
fixed."  Ps.  108:  1.  At  this  time  he  was  but  seventeen  years  of 
age.  Soon  after,  he  was  installed  to  the  ministry,  and  took 
charge  of  the  Pony  Creek  church,  Kansas.  He  was  ordained  to 
the  full  ministry  August  4,  1894. 

In  April,  1895,  he  was  called  to  the  work  at  Auburn,  Illinois, 
where  he  was  quite  successful.  While  here,  he  also  had  charge 
of  the  work  at  Cornell,  Illinois,  preaching  at  one  or  the  other  of 
these  places  from  two  to  three  times  every  Sunday,  holding  his 
own  revivals,  besides  other  duties.  For  four  years  in  connection 
with  this  work,  he  was  a  teacher  in  the  district  schools. 

In  the  fall  of  1897  ne  took  charge  of  the  Roann  and  Mexico 
churches,  Indiana.  About  one  hundred  members  were  added  to 
those  two  churches  during  his  first  two  years'  service.  Besides 
his  regular  duties,  he  held  revivals  at  Brighton,  Cambria,  and 
South  Bend,  Indiana,  Dayton,  Ohio,  and  McLouth,  Kansas,  dur- 
ing which  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  conversions  resulted.  His 
peculiar  calling  is  the  evangelistic  field.  He  is  assisted  in  his  work 
by  his  father  and  his  wife.  In  1898  he  was  elected  vice-president 
of  Indiana  Conference,  and  in  1899  was  elected  president. 

Louis  S.  Bauman  and  Mary  Wagoner  were  married  April  28, 
1898.     (Portrait  No.  328.) 


644  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

MARY    WAGONER   BAUMAN. 

Mary  Wagoner,  wife  of  Louis  S.  Bauman,  was  born  August 
ij,  1876,  in  Manhattan,  Kansas.  She  is  the  daughter  of  J.  Lafay- 
ette and  Judith  P.  Wageman.  Her  parents  are  natives  of  Ohio. 
She  was  raised  on  a  farm  near  Stockdale,  Kansas.  At  the  age  of 
thirteen  she  united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  this 
being  the  faith  of  nearly  all  her  ancestors.  In  1892  she  went  to 
Lawrence,  Kansas,  to  attend  school.  Four  years  later  she  grad- 
uated with  honors  from  the  Lawrence  High  School.  For  several 
years  following  she  taught  in  the  public  schools. 

On  the  28th  of  April,  1898,  Mary  Wagoner  and  Louis  S.  Bau- 
man were  united  in  marriage.  Three  days  after  she  united  with 
the  Brethren  Church,  being  baptized  on  May  I,  during  a  meeting 
held  by  her  husband  at  McLouth,  Kansas.  She  was  ordained 
to  the  ministry  in  the  Roann,  Indiana,  congregation,  December. 
1899. 

Sister  Bauman  is  a  talented,  forcible,  and  consecrated  woman, 
with  a  future  before  her.  In  his  absence  she  is  ever  ready  to  take 
the  place  of  her  husband  in  the  pulpit,  and  his  people  are  delighted 
to  have  her  do  so.     (Portrait  No.  267.) 

W.  J.   H.  BAUMAN. 

W.  J.  H.  Bauman  was  born  in  Northampton  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, on  December  24,  1837.  His  father  was  born  in  Prussia, 
Germany,  March  4,  1804,  and  was  educated  for  the  Catholic 
priesthood,  but,  preferring  the  medical  profession,  he  became  a 
physician.  His  mother,  Sarah  Hartzell,  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, February  26,  1814,  and  died  September  1,  1850.  William 
learned  the  mason  trade  from  an  uncle. 

On  January  7,  1856,  he  left  Pennsylvania,  for  Stephenson 
County,  Illinois,  where  he  married  Miss  Amelia  Leckington  on 
July  8,  i860,  the  ceremony  being  performed  by  Elder  Enoch  Eby, 
of  the  German  Baptist  Church.  In  August.  1857,  Elder  Eby 
baptized  him  into  the  German  Baptist  Church,  near  Lena,  Illinois, 
and  on  April  7,  i860,  he  was  called  to  the  ministry  by  the  same 


646  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

congregation.  From  here  he  moved  to  northern  Iowa,  where  he 
served  as  farmer,  mason,  and  preacher,  preaching  from  one  to 
three  sermons  nearly  every  Sunday  for  eighteen  years.  He  spent 
much  of  the  winters  in  evangelistic  work,  meeting  with  great 
success.  The  spring  of  1880  found  him  located  in  Morrill,  Brown 
County,  Kansas,  where  he  labored  for  eight  years. 

At  Morrill  he  became  associated  with  the  progressive  move- 
ment in  the  German  Baptist  Church,  and  from  the  beginning  was 
an  ardent  agitator,  writing,  talking,  and  preaching  in  behalf  of 
the  movement.  For  this  he  was  expelled  from  the  Pony  Creek 
church,  in  November,  1882.  Two  days  after  his  expulsion  the 
annual  meeting  committee  returned,  confessed  its  error,  and 
asked  forgiveness. 

He  was  the  only  trans-Missouri  delegate  to  the  Dayton  con- 
vention, in  June,  1883.  Soon  after  his  return  from  the  conven- 
tion, he  was  visited  by  another  annual  meeting  committee,  and 
again  expelled  from  the  church.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  a 
prominent  figure  among  the  progressives  in  the  west,  preaching 
and  organizing  churches  until  within  the  last  few  years.  He 
was  twice  ordained  as  district  evangelist  of  the  Kanemorado 
district. 

Few  men  have  sacrificed  and  endured  more  hardships  for  the 
cause  than  he.  To  him  the  church  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  that 
never  can  be  paid.  He  and  his  faithful  wife,  who  ever  nobly 
stood  by  his  side,  sacrificing  and  suffering  with  him,  are  now  liv- 
ing with  their  son,  Louis  S.,  at  Roann,  Indiana.  He  served  the 
Brighton,  Indiana,  church  as  pastor  in  1899,  an<^  at  this  time  is 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Edna  Mills,  Indiana.     (Portrait  182,  233.) 

DR.    URIAS    M.    BEACHLEY. 

Dr.  Urias  M.  Beachley  was  born  as  Meyers'  Mills,  Somerset 
County,  Pennsylvania,  August  21,  1829.  He  was  son  of  Daniel 
Beachley,  who  was  one  of  the  most  highly  esteemed  men  in  the 
community,  and  a  lifelong  member  of  the  Tunker  Church. 

Dr.  Beachley  received  his  common-school  education  from  the 
district-famous   professor,   Joseph   Stutzman.     He  also   received 


BRETHREN    CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  647 

some  instruction  in  the  normal  schools,  and  then  entered  the  Eclec- 
tic Medical  College,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  There  he  was  prepared 
for  his  professional  career.  He  graduated  in  185 1,  and  imme- 
diately entered  upon  an  active  practice,  with  all  the  ardor  of  a 
zealot.  No  call  was  too  distant,  no  patient  too  humble  nor  too 
poor,  to  be  responded  to  by  the  young  doctor. 

He  made  a  specialty  of  chronic  diseases,  and  was  pronounced 
very  successful  by  his  patients,  as  well  as  by  the  medical  pro- 
fession. 

He  continued  to  practice  nearly  fifty  years  in  the  same  office 
in  which  he  started,  and  lived  in  the  same  house  to  the  end  of  life. 

He  married  Mary  Ann  Koontz,  in  1853,  wno  proved  to  be  to 
him  a  wife  in  all  that  the  word  comprehends,  as  companion,  help- 
meet, and  mother  to  his  children. 

Much  of  the  life  of  Brother  Beachley  will  be  found  in  the 
"History. of  the  Meyersdale  Church,"  of  which  he  was  the  first 
great  cause,  and  one  of  its  principal  supporters  from  beginning 
to  end  of  his  life.  He  was  one  of  the  most  intimate  companions 
of  the  author  of  this  work,  and  one  of  his  staunchest  supporters 
in  all  his  troubles  in  Somerset  County.  The  best  that  can  be 
said  of  Dr.  Beachley  as  a  brother  and  a  friend  is  that  too  much 
good  can  not  be  said  of  him.  He  died  April  26,  1899.,  aged 
seventy  years   eight  months    and  five  days.      (Portrait  No.  334.) 

P.    H.   BEAVER. 

Peter  Horlacher  Beaver  was  the  sixth  of  seven  sons  born  to 
John  and  Anna  Beaver.  Three  of  these  brothers  were  called  to 
the  ministry.  Wendell  Baker,  the  father  of  Anna  Baker,  was 
the  first  member  of  the  Tunker  fraternity  in  Union  County,  Penn- 
sylvania. Anna  Baker  was  married  to  John  Beaver,  of  Lycoming 
County,  on  February  22,  1814,  and  was  baptized  in  1822,  being 
the  first  member  after  her  grandfather. 

The  ancestors  of  P.  H.  Beaver  on  his  father's  side  were  Valen- 
tine Bieber,  his  son  Adam  Bieber,  his  son  John  Bieber,  the  hus- 
band of  Anna  Baker ;  and  on  his  mother's  side,  Wendell  Baker, 


648  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

his  son  John  Baker,  his  daughter  Anna  Baker,  wife  of  John 
Bieber.  This  name  has  been  anglicized,  and  is  now  written 
Beaver  by  most  of  the  families. 

Peter  H.  Beaver  was  born  in  Union  County,  Pennsylvania, 
March  29,  1830,  on  the  old  homestead  farm. 

At  the  age  of  twelve  his  parents  bought  a  home  in  the  borough 
of  Lewisburg,  and  retired  from  the  farm.  Peter  was  placed  with 
a  man  in  Lewisburg  for  a  term  of  four  years  to  learn  the  harness 
and  saddlery  trade. 

Early  in  his  boyhood  he  showed  a  taste  for  literature,  and  in 
due  time  became  a  studious  reader,  and  an  amateur  phrenologist, 
and  almost  a  politician.  After  serving  time  as  an  apprentice,  in 
the  spring  of  1851,  he  spent  nearly  a  year  in  travel  and  work  at 
his  trade.  There  was  no  railway  within  fifty  miles  of  his  home  at 
that  time.  He  visited  Harrisburg,  York,  East  Berlin,  Columbia, 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia.  Lancaster,  and  other  less  important 
places. 

On  January  22,  1852,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Mary 
Royer,  daughter  of  Joel  Royer,  by  Elder  Isaac  Myers.  In  the 
year  1861  he  was  baptized  by  Elder  Isaac  Myers,  and  in  1867 
he  and  W.  K.  Moore  were  chosen  deacons  on  the  same  day,  in  the 
Buffalo  Valley  church,  in  which  station  he  "served  twelve  years. 
During  the  last  two  years  he  published  the  Deacon,  a  small 
monthly  paper,  as  an  exponent  of  apostolic  church  government, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  arresting  and  defeating  the  gradual  and 
persistent  usurpations  of  power  by  aspiring  elders.  The  publi- 
cation of  the  Deacon  was  suspended  at  the  end  of  two  years,  when 
the  publisher  was  chosen  to  the  ministry,  which  took  place  on 
June  5,  1879.  On  this  same  day  he  became  grandfather ;  he  was 
elected  to  the  ministry,  and  was  cited  to  be  visited  by  an  annual 
meeting  committee  for  publishing  a  schismatic  periodical. 
Brother  Beaver's  ministry  ran  peacefully  for  about  nine  years. 
He  moved  to  Montandon,  a  village  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of 
Lewisburg,  and  where  he  now  resides.  From  here,  while  in  the 
active  ministry,  he  traveled  widely  among  the  church  of  central 
Pennsylvania. 


650  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

During  a  revival  in  the  Baptist  Church  at  Montandon,  in  the 
year  1887,  six  of  his  children  were  converted.  They  had  a 
preference  for  the  Tunker  baptism,  but  did  not  admire  the  Ger- 
man Baptist  Church  government.  After  a  family  consultation  it 
was  agreed  to  send  for  Brother  W.  L.  Spanogle  to  hold  a  few 
meetings,  but  he  was  substituted  by  Elder  J.  B.  Wampler,  who 
attended  to  their  wants.  This  act  or  permission  on  the  part  of 
Brother  "Beaver  gave  offense  to  the  elders;  a  charge  was  pre- 
sented for  fellowshiping  Brother  Wampler ;  a  committee  of 
adjoining  elders  was  called,  and  in  due  time  Brother  Beaver  was 
disowned,  according  to  the  spirit  of  that  age,  because  he  would 
not  confess  that  of  which  he  did  not  believe  himself  to  be  guilty. 
In  1889  Brother  Beaver  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  in  the 
Brethren  Church  at  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania,  by  Elders  J.  D. 
McFaden  and  E.  B.  Shaver.  He  has  done  some  preaching,  but 
is  not  now  in  charge  of  a  church.      (Portrait  No.  368.) 

JOSEPH   W.   BEER. 

Joseph  W.  Beer  was  born  in  Armstrong  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, March  26,  1838.  His  father's  name  was  Jacob,  and  his 
mother's  name  was  Catharine.  "Her  maiden  name  was  Wampler, 
which  is  represented  by  the  W  in  his  name.  His  parents  were 
members  of  the  Tunkers,  and  their  home  for  years  was  a  place 
of  religious  services.  Their  children  were  reared  in  the  faith, 
and  three  of  their  sons — Solomon,  Joseph,  and  Jacob — were 
elected  to  the  ministry ;  and  two  of  their  sons-in-law — Thomas 
Graham  and  John  B.  Wampler — were  chosen  to  the  same  office. 

Brother  Beer  was  educated  principally  in  the  public  schools 
and  the  Dayton  Academy.  He  was  converted  and  baptized  in 
1859,  and  was  elected  to  the  ministry  in  1861.  On  September 
10  of  the  same  year,  he  and  Sister  Hannah  Elizabeth  Henegan, 
daughter  of  Doctor  William  Henegan,  were  married,  by  Elder 
Lewis  Kimmel.  They  have  endeavored  to  be  faithful  Christians, 
and  to  encourage  and  assist  each  other  in  the  discharge  of  the 
various  duties  devolving  upon  them. 

Brother  Beer  was  chosen  to  the  ministry  in  Armstrong  County, 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  65 1 

Pennsylvania,  afterward  was  advanced,  and  in  1881  was  ordained 
elder,  all  in  the  same  county.  He  attended  to  his  calling  suc- 
cessfully in  various  places,  and  in  different  states  of  the  Union, 
until  about  1892,  when  he  became  afflicted  with  epilepsy. 

In  the  early  part  of  his  career  he  taught  school.  Afterward 
he  was  employed  by  the  author  of  this  work  as  assistant  editor 
of  the  Christian  Family  Companion,  and  still  later  as  a  partner 
of  the  Progressive  Christian.  He  also  served  with  Elder  J. 
Quinter  as  assistant,  and  was  proprietor,  editor,  and  publisher  of 
the  Progressive  Christian,  at  Berlin,  Pennsylvania,  for  a  short 
time,  commencing  with  i860.  He  wrote  much  for  the  different 
church  periodicals.  Some  of  these  writings  were  afterwards 
published  in  a  book  or  pamphlet  form.  One  of  these  was  "The 
Jewish  Passover  and  the  Lord's  Supper,"  a  book  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  pages ;  another,  "A  Summary  of  Religious  Faith 
and  Practice,  or  Doctrines  and  Duties  ;"  and  another,  a  poem, 
entitled  "Faith  and  Practice  of  the  Brethren  Church."  He 
attended  a  number  of  district  and  general  conferences,  in  which 
he  took  an  active  part.  He  manifested  a  deep  interest  in  the 
Brethren  Church,  and  was  moderator  of  the  first  general  confer- 
ence at  Ashland,  Ohio,  June  29  and  30,  1882.  At  the  same 
meeting  he  was  one  of  a  committee  to  arrange  and  publish  a 
hymnal,  which  was  done  acceptably.  He  afterward  moved  to 
California,  where  he  served  several  churches  as  pastor  and  elder 
until  his  affliction  disabled  him  for  public  service.  He  had  a 
good  library  and  a  full  record  of  his  past  experience  and  work, 
but  their  dwelling,  with  all  its  contents,  was  destroyed  by  fire. 
At  this  writing  he  is  pastoral  correspondent  of  the  Pacific  District 
Conference. 

In  the  prime  of  his  manhood  Brother  Beer  was  one  of  the  most 
logical  and  forcible  public  speakers  of  my  acquaintance.  Being 
possessed  of  a  tall  and  erect* form,  and  a  full,  strong  voice,  with 
a  pleasing  address,  he  could  hold  a  large  audience  at  his  own 
will.  He  was  also  fearless  of  any  competitor,  although  not 
inclined  to  be  satirical  or  abusive.  As  an  instance  of  his  oratorical 
ability,  I  will  mention  one  occasion. 


652  HISTORY    OF    THE    TINKERS. 

A  Mr.  Streamer,  a  Lutheran  minister,  had  assailed  our  peeuliar 
doctrines  in  his  public  preaching  at  Roaring  Springs,  Pennsyl- 
vania, during  my  presence.  At  the  close  of  the  service  I  asked 
permission  to  make  an  announcement,  which  was  granted.  I 
then  stated  that  in  two  weeks  from  that  day  a  reply  would  be  made 
to  the  discourse  to  which  we  had  just  listened,  either  at  this 
church  or  somewhere  near  by,  and  invited  people  to  come  and 
hear  the!  gospel  side  of  the  subject.  I  had  Brother  Beer  in  my 
mind  at  the  time  as  the  champion  for  the  occasion.  When  the 
day  came  there  was  an  immense  concourse  of  people  assembled 
on  the  ground,  the  half  of  whom  could  not  have  entered  the 
Lutheran  Church. 

We  resorted  to  a  grove  near  by,  and  for  two  hours  Brother 
Beer  addressed  them  upon  the  subject  to  which  Mr.  Streamer 
had  objected,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  our  side  of  the  audience 
and  the  discomfiture  of  our  opponents.  I  do  not  remember  a 
single  occasion  when  I  felt  more  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  effort 
of  any  of  my  brethren  than  I  was  with  the  work  of  Brother  J.  W. 
Beer  on  the  hillside  of  Roaring  Springs,  and  the  result  was  quite 
satisfactory  to  the  Tunker  Church,  for  at  this  time  a  large  and 
prosperous  congregation  of  German  Baptists  had  grown  up  in 
the  community.     (Portraits  Nos.  184,  324.) 

A.   R.    BEMENDERFER. 

A.  R.  Bemenderfer,  born  in  Canton,  Ohio,  August  6,  i860,  has 
resided  in  Elkhart  County,  Indiana,  since  1865.  He  was  united 
in  marriage  with  Alice  Beasecher,  September  26,  1883.  To  them 
were  born  two  children,  daughter  and  son,  now  both  members  of 
the  church.  He  and  wife  were  baptized  February  13,  1891.  He 
was  called  to  the  ministry  in  November,  1894;  ordained  by  J.  O. 
Talley.  He  attended  Hillsdale  College  a  short  time,  in  company 
with  J.  A.  Miller.      (Portraits  Nos.'  103,   142.) 

SOLOMON    BENSHOFF. 

Solomon  Benshoff  was  born  March  5,  1812,  in  Cambria  County, 
Pennsylvania.     I  could  not  ascertain  the  date  of  his  connection 


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654  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

with  the  church,  but  he  was  called  to  the  office  of  deacon  October 
II,  1846,  and  was  elected  to  the  ministry  May  20,  1855. 

Elder  Benshoff  was  one  of  the  staunch  men  of  his  county,  and 
was  an  energetic  member  of  the  church.  When  the  division 
occurred,  Brother  Benshoff  stood  in  with  the  progressives,  and 
was  the  only  ordained  elder  in  that  part  of  the  state  who  became 
a  charter  member  of  the  Brethren  Church.  He  raised  a  family 
of  twelve  children,  all  of  whom  belong  to  the  church  of  their 
father.     He  died  March  31,  1894.      (Portrait  No.  380.) 

BENJAMIN   BENSHOFF. 

Benjamin  Benshoff  was  born  February  12,  1832.  He  was  bap- 
tized by  Elder  Levi  Roberts,  April,  1857.  Brother  Benshoff 
served  in  the  office  of  the  Deacon  for  nearly  ten  years,  and  did 
much  to  build  up  the  cause  of  the  Brethren  Church  in  southern 
Pennsylvania.  He  raised  a  family  of  thirteen  children,  twelve 
of  whom  are  members  of  the  Brethren  Church.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  are  still  laboring  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  church,  and 
patiently  waiting  for  the  inheritance  which  is  incorruptible  and 
fadeth  not  away.     (Portrait  No.  379.) 

DANIEL   J.    BOLE. 

Daniel  J.  Bole,  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  is  the  representative 
of  a  worthy,  God-fearing  ancestry.  On  his  mother's  side  he  is 
descended  from  Jacob  Goughnour,  a  sturdy  adherent  of  the 
Tunker  faith,  who,  in  1709,  emigrated  to  Canton  Basil,  Switzer- 
land, and  thence,  some  years  later,  crossed  the  ocean  for  the  land 
of  religious  liberty.  In  1729  he  founded  a  church  of  his  faith, 
at  New  Jerusalem,  near  Hagerstown,  Maryland. 

Later  he  located  near  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  took 
possession  of  a  grant  of  seven  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  where 
the  majority  of  his  descendants  settled.  One  tract  of  two  acres 
this  pioneer  set  aside  as  a  burying-ground.  It  is  known  as  the 
Union  Cemetery,  and  is  located  near  East  Conemaugh.  He  had 
three    sons.      Daniel    Goughnour    is    the    great-grandfather    of 


BRETHREN    CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  655 

Brother  Bole.  Both  he  and  his  son  were  deacons  in  the  Tunker 
Church,  and  the  granddaughter  of  the  latter,  the  mother  of 
Brother  Bole,  was  also  noted  for  her  piety. 

On  his  father's  side  the  great-great-grandfather  left  Ireland  dur- 
ing the  religious  persecution  of  the  earl)-  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  came  to  Xew  York.  Later  he  married  into  a  German 
family  in  Butler  County,  Pennsylvania.  His  great-grandfather 
and  grandfather  Bole  were  born  in  Armstrong  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania. His  parents,  Isaac  C.  Bole  and  Christiana  Goughnour, 
were  married  in  Cambria  County.  The  Boles  had  been  Presby- 
terians, but  after  their  marriage  this  couple  united  with  the  Ger- 
man Baptists,  and  remained  with  them  until  the  division  on  the 
dress  question,  in  1880,  when  they  cast  their  lot  with  the  Brethren 
Church,  of  which  they  are  still  members. 

Daniel  J.  Bole  was  born  in  Cambria  County,  Pennsylvania, 
May  3,  1857.  He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  received  a  common- 
school  education,  and  aided  his  father  in  the  lumber  business  until 
he  was  over  twenty-one  years  old.  He  was  then  employed  in  the 
Cambria  Iron  Works. 

September  28,  1881,  he  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Beck,  of  Johns- 
town. In  May,  1886,  he  united  with  the  Brethren  Church  at  East 
Conemaugh.  In  April,  1887,  he  accepted  a  position  with  the  Black 
Diamond  Steel  Works  in  Pittsburg,  where  he  worshiped  for  a 
time  with  the  Messiah  Baptist  Church,  and  held  the  office  of 
superintendent  in  the  Sunday-school  for  eighteen  months.  He 
felt,  however,  that  complete  affiliation  with  any  other  church  was 
impossible  to  him,  and  in  October,  1889,  he  resigned  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  Baptist  Sunday-school.  One  month  later  he 
secured  Vaughn's  Hall,  on  Liberty  Avenue,  and  on  November  3 
organized  a  Sunday-school  with  forty-three  scholars,  which 
resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  First  Brethren  Church  of 
Pittsburg. 

December  27,  1892,  Brother  Bole  married  Miss  Anna  Replogle, 
daughter  of  J.  L.  Replogle. 

October  1,  1893,  Brother  Bole  was  ordained  to  the  ministry 
by  P.  J.  Brown,  J.  C.  Mackey,  and  W.  L.  Spanogle.     In  his  boy- 


656  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

hood  he  had  heard  the  call  to  the  ministry,  but  had  forced  aside 
decision.  The  need  of  the  work  of  his  hands  at  home,  the  lack 
of  a  thorough  theological  training,  the  industrial  bent  as  an 
expert  in  his  trade,  all  combined  to  keep  him  from  undertaking 
the  sacred  office.  But  God's  claims  were  not  to  be  set  aside. 
The  needs  of  the  little  school  forced  him  to  expound  the  Word 
in  public,  and  the  growing  charge  soon  needed  a  pastor  in  name 
as  well  as  deed. 

After  his  ordination  he  assumed  all  the  cares  and  duties  of  the 
pastorate  for  about  two  years.  During  that  time  the  church 
numbered  seventy-four  accessions.  During  this  period  he  con- 
tinued his  industrial  work  with  the  Black  Diamond  Steel  Works. 
As  soon  as  the  church  was  able  to  support  a  pastor,  R.  E.  Darling 
was  called  as  a  permanent  one.  Brother  Bole  is  now  preaching 
for  the  Highland  Brethren  Church,  Washington  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  semimonthly  for  the  Glade  Run  Church,  Armstrong 
County,  Pennsylvania.      (Portrait  No.  244.) 

j.  L.  BOWMAN. 

J.  L.  Bowman  was  born  near  Jones'  Mills,  Westmoreland 
County,  March  1,  1866.  He  is  of  German  descent.  His  early 
life  was  passed  amid  the  lights  and  shadows  of  his  childhood 
home.  When  he  completed  his  public-school  studies,  he  entered 
the  Southwestern  State  Normal  School,  located  at  California, 
Pennsylvania,  from  which  he  graduated  some  years  later.  In 
his  senior  years  he  was  chosen  to  represent  the  Philomathean 
Literary  Society  in  its  annual  contest.  Shortly  after  his  gradua- 
tion from  the  normal  school,  he  was  elected  to  the  ministry  in  the 
Brethren  Church,  and  was  duly  ordained  by  Elder  J.  B.  Wampler, 
of  Blanco,  Pennsylvania.  Being  impressed  with  the  need  of  a 
wider  preparation  before  fully  entering  on  his  life's  work,  he 
entered  the  theological  department  of  Juniata  College,  at  Hunt- 
ingdon, Pennsylvania,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1899.  The 
following  year  he  taught  school  at  West  Overton,  Pennsylvania. 

He  is  the  present  pastor  of  the  Vinco  Brethren  Church. 
(Portrait  No.  149.) 


- 


. 


:%, 


»• 


If 


GROUP   4 


658  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

JOSEPH    BOWMAN. 

Among  our  faithful  brethren  who  died  in  the  early  years  of 
our  history,  was  Brother  Joseph  Bowman,  of  Rockingham 
County,  Virginia.  He  was  an  unassuming  Christian  gentleman, 
who  served  his  church  faithfully,  always  filling  his  appointments. 

During  the  years  1867-68,  when  definite  time  was  preached  by 
W.  C.  Thurman  and  others,  Brother  Bowman  and  a  number  of 
other  brethren  and  sisters  gave  much  time  to  the  study  of  certain 
prophecies,  and  believed  the  time  was  at  hand.  He  was  also  a 
strong  advocate  of  the  single  mode  of  feet-washing.  These 
peculiarities  drew  upon  Brother  Bowman  and  his  associates  the 
censure  of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  and  a  number  of  them 
were  disowned.  Brother  Bowman,  however,  continued  to  preach, 
and,  being  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  and  moral  character,  a 
number  of  persons  were  baptized  by  him  by  trine  immersion. 
When  the  prophecies  failed,  and  the  little  band  was  disappointed, 
a  number  of  them  requested  to  be  admitted  into  fellowship  in  the 
German  Baptist  Church.  This  was  granted  to  all  the  old  mem- 
bers, but  those  who  had  been  baptized  by  Bowman  and  Thurman 
were  required  to  be  rebaptized.  Some  yielded  to  this  demand, 
but  others  could  not.  This  was  a  trying  time  to  Brother  Bowman. 
He  desired  to  be  in  fellowship  with  the  old  church,  but  to  desert 
those  whom  he  had  received  in  good  faith,  leaving  them  without 
a  shepherd,  was  more  than  his  sense  of  justice  could  permit. 
Accordingly  he  stood  by  them,  and  ministered  to  them,  adding 
such  as  chose  to  go  with  them. 

After  the  general  division  of  the  brotherhood,  Brother  Bow- 
man and  his  faithful  band,  in  a  body,  united  with  the  Brethren 
Church,  and  so  have  ever  remained. 

Brother  Joseph  Bowman  was  born  March  4,  1837,  and  died 
August  22,  1887,  aged  fifty  years  five  months  and  eighteen  days. 

STEPHEN  BROADHURST. 

Stephen  Broadhurst  moved  to  California  in  1848.  While 
crossing  the  plains  he  became  acquainted  with  and  married  Miss 
Rebecca  McCombs.     They  arrived  in  California  in  the  days  of 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  659 

aiining  excitement,  ancyife  went  into  the  mines  to  work,  having 
no  capital  save  a  willing  mind  and  strong  arms.  He  went  to  Napa, 
and  soon  after  became  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  Several 
years  later  he  became  acquainted  with  Elder  George  Wolfe,  while 
preaching  in  Napa  County,  and  was  baptized  by  him.  A  num- 
ber of  others  united  with  the  church  at  the  same  time,  and  a  local 
organization  was  effected,  and  Brother  Broadhurst  was  chosen 
to  the  ministry.  He  had  a  limited  education,  but  he  felt  that  the 
Lord  had  called  him  to  preach,  and,  being  very  zealous,  he  trav- 
eled and  preached  many  times,  but  was  more  successful  at  the 
fireside  than  in  the  pulpit.  He  was  very  sociable,  and  always 
had  time  to  talk  on  religion.  If  he  excelled  in  any  Christian 
virtue,  it  was  in  hospitality. 

Brother  Broadhurst  died  at  his  home  near  Jenny  Lind,  Cala- 
veras County,  California,  August  I,  1888,  aged  sixty-two  years 
and  nine  months. 

p.   j.  BROWN. 

P.  J.  Brown  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania, 
October  14,  1827.  He  was  elected  to  the  ministry  at  Sandy 
Creek,  Virginia,  in  1851.  He  was  ordained  an  elder  in  Wayne 
County,  Ohio,  in  1879,  and  served  on  the  standing  committee 
at  Lanark,  Illinois,  in  1880.  He  was  the  only  charter  member 
in  the  Brethren  Church  who  had  reached  that  goal  at  the  time 
of  the  division,  and  after  that  deplorable  event  he  traveled, 
preached,  and  labored  almost  incessantly  to  build  up  the  cause, 
and  assisted  in  the  ordination  of  many  elders.  In  1886  he 
visited  California,  and  assisted  in  conducting  the  camp-meeting 
of  that  year.  This  trip  had  a  very  inspiring  influence  upon  him, 
and  he  always  refers  to  it  as  one  of  the  green  spots  in  his  minis- 
terial career.  For  the  past  few  years  his  state  of  health  and  the 
infirmities  of  age  have  kept  him  from  much  active  service.  He 
served  the  home  church  temporarily  as  pastor,  during  1899. 

Brother  Brown  deserves  much  credit  for  his  progressive  work 
in  the  Tunker  fraternity.  He  advocated  correct  views,  cultivated 
progressive    sentiments,  and    conscientiously  practiced    what    he 


660  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

preached.  He  was  bold  and  fearless,  and  might  have  been  a 
successful  military  officer  had  he  not  been  a  Christian.  He  was 
the  only  Tunker  bishop  of  his  time  who  had  the  courage  and  tact 
to  meet  and  overcome  the  wiles  of  the  eldercraft,  in  ordaining 
men  of  progressive  views  with  Bible  qualifications,  embracing  a 
home  reputation  in  and  outside  of  the  church.  (Portraits  173, 
196.) 

J.    H.   BURN  WORTH. 

John  H.  Burn  worth  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, March  28,  1847.  He  attended  public  schools,  and  received 
some  training  at  the  normals.  He  afterward  taught  a  number  of 
years  in  Pennsylvania.  He  moved  to  Milledgeville,  Illinois,  in 
1869,  and  united  with  the  Dutchtown  congregation  of  the  Ger- 
man Baptist  Church  in  1872,  under  the  preaching  of  Elder  James 
Quinter. 

He  removed  to  Brown  County,  Kansas,  in  1874,  and  placed  his 
membership  in  the  Pony  Creek  church,  was  elected  to  the  min- 
istry in  1884,  and  with  that  congregation  was  transferred  to  the 
Brethren  Church,  and  was  its  pastor  at  different  times  about 
six  years.  He  also  served  the  Falls  City  church,  Nebraska,  about 
five  years.  He  is  now  pastor  of  the  Bethany  church,  Kansas. 
(Portrait   No.   243.) 

WILLIAM   BYERS. 

William  Byers  was  born  in  Bedford  County,  Pennsylvania,  at 
Bloody  Run,  now  Everett,  January  29,  1823. 

When  he  was  twelve  years  old  his  parents  moved  to  Cambria 
County  near  Johnstown.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he 
worked  on  the  dam  that  has  since  been  made  famous  by  its  destruc- 
tion of  the  city  of  Johnstown,  in  the  awful  flood  of  1889.  In 
1842  he  married  Rachael  Cain.  In  1855  his  wife  joined  the  Ger- 
man Baptists,  the  baptismal  ceremony  being  performed  by 
Solomon  Benshoff. 

Three  years  later,  in  October,  he  was  baptized  by  Lewis 
Cobaugh.  None  of  his  relatives  had  ever  been  connected  with 
the  German  Baptist  Church.     He  experienced  much  opposition 


GROUP  5 


662  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

from  friends  in  taking  a  step  so  radically  different  from  the 
ancestral  faith,  but  he  also  experienced  that  peace  that  passeth 
understanding. 

About  three  years  after  his  connection  with  the  church  he  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  deacon. 

In  1859  his  wife  died.  About  the  year  1861  lie  married 
Isabelle  Wilkinson,  an  English  lady,  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Church.  She,  however,  united  with  the  Brethren  Church,  and 
remains  faithful  to  all  its  teachings. 

June,  1866,  he  was  elected  to  the  ministry,  and  installed  by 
Henry  Kurtz  and  John  Knicely,  and  in  less  than  a  year  was 
advanced  to  the  second  degree.  In  the  busy  years  of  his  minis- 
terial life  he  labored,  in  connection  with  others,  at  Johnstown, 
Horner,  Giffin  Hill,  Union,  Hetricks,  Benshoff  Hill,  and  Pike 
churches.     His  labors  wrere  mostly  among  the  home  churches. 

When  the  territory  was  divided,  Brother  Byers  was  placed  in 
the  Conemaugh  congregation.  In  this  new  relation  he  continued 
his  ministerial  labors  until  the  denominational  division  of  1882. 
In  company  with  a  large  number  of  others  he  cast  his  lot  with 
the  Brethren  Church.  In  the  second  year  after  the  division  he 
was  ordained  to  the  office  of  Elder  J.  B.  Wampler. 

In  the  absence  of  other  active  ministers  the  labors  of  the  charge 
devolved  mainly  upon  Brother  Byers.  As  he  was  so  situated 
that  he  could  not  give  his  entire  time  to  the  work,  he  requested 
that  the  church  institute  a  paid  ministry,  and  secure  a  qualified 
man  to  take  charge.  After  some  deliberation,  the  church  acceded 
to  his  request. 

For  a  few  years,  however,  he  continued  to  assist  in  the  work. 
The  church  has  grown  in  numbers,  and  is  in  fair  working  order. 
(Portrait  No.  332.) 

JOHN   CADWALLADER. 

John  Cadwallader  was  born  in  Bedford  County,  Virginia, 
December  31,  1800.  He  moved  to  Miami  County,  Ohio,  in  the 
fall  of  1856,  where  he  remained  to  the  time  of  his  death. 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  663 

He  was  a  minister  in  the  German  Baptist  Church  fifty-five 
years,  preaching  "mightily,"  in  the  interest  of  the  "faith  of  the 
gospel."  Being  a  man  of  strong  convictions  and  marked  ability 
as  a  public  speaker,  he  held  forth  his  views  so  powerfully,  when 
yet  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  that  he  carried  an  influence  that  few 
of  his  fraternity  could  command,  and  he  would  "stand  up  for  the 
right,"  as  he  used  to  say,  whether  all  of  the  brethren  agreed  with 
him  or  not. 

This  sometimes  caused  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  some  of 
the  officials.  When  the  time  came  that  the  minutes  of  annual 
conference  were  made  mandatory,  he  could  no  longer  submit, 
and  be  silent  on  what  he  held  to  be  his  duty.  The  result  was, 
uncharitable  reports  were  circulated,  and  charges  brought  against 
the  elder  which  could  not  be  sustained. 

But  the  elder  was  arraigned,  tried,  and  condemned. 

Robert  Miller,  John  Wise,  and  Samuel  Mohler  were  active  eld- 
ers in  the  trial.  Henry  D.  Davy  and  James  Quinter  were  active  in 
the  expulsion.  There  were  no  other  members  expelled  immediately 
at  that  time,  but  quite  a  number  were  warned  that  if  they  con- 
tinued to  follow  Cadwallader,  attending  his  appointments,  they 
would  be  disowned.  These  were  men  and  women  quite  on  an 
equality  with  the  better  part  of  the  membership.  But  they  refused 
to  withdraw  from  Cadwallader,  and  were  disowned,  not  for  any 
other  charges  or  for  any  violation  of  the  order. 

Elder  Cadwallader  died  April  2,  1879.  Those  brethren  who 
were  separated  from  the  main  body  of  the  old  organization  were 
notified  officially  that  they  were  no  longer  members,  but  could 
come  back  to  the  church  by  an  acknowledgment  and  confession. 
Their  conscience  would  not  permit  them  to  do  this,  so  they  con- 
tinued to  hold  their  own  meetings.  Though  the  doors  of  the 
church  which  belonged  to  our  district  were  locked  once  or  twice, 
to  keep  Cadwallader  and  his  members  out,  they  met  in  barns  and 
private  houses  for  a  time.  Later  they  were  admitted  into  the 
meeting-house  of  their  district.  So  the  work  continued  and  bore 
the  storms. 


664  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

JOHN   CHRISMAN. 

John  Chrisman  was  born  September  13,  1797,  in  Guilford 
County,  North  Carolina.  His  grandfather,  Jacob  Chrisman,  was 
born  and  raised  in  Pennsylvania,  but  afterward  removed  to  North 
Carolina.  There  Daniel,  the  father  of  John  Chrisman,  was  born, 
in  1775.  In  1803  Daniel  Chrisman,  with  his  son  and  his  wife's 
parents,  removed  to  Warren  County,  Ohio,  where  grandfather 
Jacob  Chrisman  died.  The  family  settled  on  Twin  Creek,  Preble 
County,  in  1805.  Father  Daniel  Chrisman  died  near  Eaton, 
February  12,  1861. 

John  Chrisman  and  Susan  Hall  were  married  February  20, 
1820.  Although  his  father  and  grandfather  were  Presbyterians, 
he  made  choice  of  the  Tunkers,  and  was  a  consistent  member  for 
many  years.  Brother  Chrisman  was  not  an  enthusiast  in  religion, 
but  believed  in  the  kind  of  Christianity  which  manifests  itself  in 
the  common  acts  of  everyday  life.  When  the  division  occurred 
in  the  Tunker  fraternity,  he  chose  the  Brethren  Church.  He 
died  August  26,  1887,  aged  eighty-nine  years  eleven  months 
and  thirteen  days. 

GEORGE   A.    COPP. 

George  A.  Copp  was  born  at  Fisher's  Hill,  Virginia,  Novem- 
ber 1,  1858.  His  parents  were  members  of  the  German  Baptist 
Church,  but  were  among  the  original  members  of  the  Brethren 
Church.  He  received  an  academic  education  at  the  Strasburg 
Academy.  He  came  forward  for  baptism  at  a  meeting  held  by 
S.  H.  Bashor  in  the  United  Brethren  Church  at  Tom's  Brook, 
Virginia,  and  was  baptized  by  E.  B.  Shaver,  May  17,  1884.  He 
married  Emma  E.  Maphis,  November  30,  1882,  who  was  then  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  but  was  of 
her  own  free,  will  baptized  with  her  husband,  and  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Brethren  Church.  He  was  elected  to  the  ministry  June 
8,  1888,  but  refused  to  preach.  However,  after  a  severe  sickness 
and  mature  deliberation,  he  changed  his  mind,  and  took  up  minis- 
terial duties.  He  made  his  first  attempt  at  preaching  at  the 
Round  Hill  church,  August  17,  1890.     He  preached  occasionally 


GROUP   6 


666  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

until  November  26,  1892,  when  he  was  ordained  to  the  eldership 
at  Reliance,  Virginia. 

In  the  spring  of  1893  he  was  called  to  regular  ministerial 
service  at  Keller,  West  Virginia,  and  at  Providence  and  Mount 
Pleasant,  Virginia,  where  he  served  for  several  years.  He  after- 
wards served  at  Quicksburg,  Round  Hill,  Maurertown,  and 
Mount  Zion. 

He  was  also  pastor  at  Bethlehem  church,  Rockingham  County, 
for  two  years,  and  is  at  present  pastor  of  Mount  Zion,  Round 
Hill,  and  Mount  Pleasant  churches.      (Portraits  Nos.  232,  76.) 

ROGER  E.  DARLING. 

Roger  E.  Darling  was  born  October  27,  1875,  in  Fremont, 
Steuben  County,  New  York. 

When  one  year  of  age  he  was  adopted  by  his  uncle,  Stephen 
Darling,  and  taken  to  Dalles  Center,  Iowa,  where  he  was  reared, 
spending  the  first  fifteen  years  upon  a  farm. 

His  adopted  parents  were  of  Presbyterian  faith",  but  under  the 
preaching  of  Brother  E.  E.  Haskins,  at  Dallas  Center,  Roger 
was  converted  and  baptized,  December  8,  1889,  and  united  with 
the  Brethren  Church. 

His  adopted  parents,  some  time  after  this,  moved  into  the  town, 
where  he  had  better  opportunities  for  an  education.  After  grad- 
uating from  high  school,  he  turned  his  attention  to  studying  for 
the  ministry,  feeling  that  he  had  been  called  for  this  work  from 
childhood.  To  prepare  himself  for  his  duties,  he  was  further 
educated  at  Mount  Morris  College,  Illinois,  and  Ashland  College, 
Ohio. 

He  preached  his  first  sermon  on  the  evening  of  December  26, 

1894,  his  subject  being  "Christ's   Sheepfold."     On   August  25, 

1895,  he  was  ordained  by  N.  A.  Flora,  of  Dallas  Center,  Iowa. 
While  attending  Ashland  College,  he  occasionally  preached  at 
Ankenytown,  but  his  first  regular  charge  was  at  Moxham  and 
Rosedale,  suburbs  of  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania.  He  served 
those  congregations  two  years,  from  April  1,  1896,  during  which 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  667 

time  there  were  one  hundred  and  forty-four  accessions  to  the 
church. 

He  was  married  January  20,  1898,  to  Rosa,  daughter  of  R.  Z. 
Replogle,  of  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania.  April  1,  1898,  he  took 
charge  of  the  First  Brethren  Church  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  still  continues  to  serve.  During  his  labors  at  Pittsburg, 
thirty-five  persons  have  been  added  to  the  church  by  baptism,  and 
three  were  reclaimed.  He  has  preached  six  hundred  and  forty 
sermons,  conducted  twenty  funerals,  and  solemnized  nine  mar- 
riages.    (Portrait  No.  26.) 

l.  w.  DITCH. 

L.  W.  Ditch,  present  pastor  of  the  Oakville  church,  Delaware 
County,  Indiana,  was  born  May  15,  1859,  in  Blair  County,  Penn- 
sylvania. He  was  set  apart  to  the  ministry  by  Josiah  Keim  and 
A.  A.  Cober,  at  Louisville,  Ohio,  October  8,  1886.  His  first 
sermon  was  preached  in  the  Brethren  Church  at  Dunlap's,  Elk- 
hart County,  Indiana,  October  10,  1886.  This  congregation  was 
his  first  charge.  Since  then  he  has  served  as  pastor  at  Indian 
Creek,  Mt.  Pleasant,  South  Bend,  Edna  Mills,  Flora,  Tiosa,  Clay- 
pool,  Warsaw,  Roann,  Mexico,  Twelve  Mile,  Bethel,  and  Maple 
Grove.  All  this  work  was  done  in  Indiana,  excepting  a  year  as 
pastor  at  New  Troy,  Michigan,  and  several  revival  meetings  in 
Michigan,  Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania.  He  was  ordained  to  elder- 
ship, by  request  of  the  Dunlap  church,  March  22,  1887. 

At  the  state  conference  in  Indiana,  October,  1899,  he  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  state  evangelist.     (Portrait  No.  127.) 

J.    B.   EARLY. 

J.  B.  Early  was  born  of  German  Baptist  parentage,  near  Lima, 
Ohio,  in  the  year  1867.  In  1878  his  father  moved  to  Salem, 
Oregon,  where  part  of  the  family  still  reside.  Three  of  the  four 
sons  are  ministers,  two  serving  the  German  Baptist  Church,  viz., 
M.  D.,  at  Elgin,  Illinois,  connected  with  the  missionary  depart- 
ment, and  S.  P.,  at  North  Manchester,  Indiana,  connected  with 
the  German  Baptist  school  at  that  place. 


668 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


D.  W.  and  J.  B.,  located  at  Salem,  Oregon,  in  the  spring  oi 
1899,  united  with  the  Brethren  Church.  The  former  is  known 
as  "the  singer,"  having  taken  an  extensive  course  in  vocal  music 
and  harmony.  Both  are  noted  for  their  congregational  singing, 
J.  B.  Early  united  with  the  German  Baptist  Church  in  1887: 
was  elected  deacon  in  1888,  and  to   the   ministry  in    1889.      He 

attended  the  Willamette  Univer- 
sity at  Salem  two  years,  anc 
spent  a  year  at  Mount  Morris 
Illinois.  Returning  home,  he  was 
immediately  advanced  to  the  sec- 
ond degree.  At  this  juncture  he 
was  married  to  Sister  Polly  Yoder 
After  spending  one  year  on  the 
home  place,  he  was  offered  a  pro- 
fessorship in  the  Oregon  School  foi 
the  Deaf,  at  Salem.  There  being 
a  mute  sister  in  the  family,  now 
Mrs.  N.  E.  Litherland,  of  Salem 
an  accomplished  landscape  and  por- 
trait artist,  and  faithful  mem- 
ber of  the  Brethren  Church 
Brother  Early  had  acquired  pro- 
ficient use  of  the  sign  language 
Serving  the  school  as  head  teacher  for  two  years,  he  was  electee 
superintendent  of  the  school  for  two  years  longer,  with  his  wife 
as  matron.  He  was  greatly  beloved  by  the  pupils  and  patrons  oJ 
the  school,  and  received  many  solicitations  from  them  to  agair 
take  up  the  work. 

While  engaged  in  school  work,  a  great  part  of  his  ministry  was 
confined  to  the  school  conducted  in  the  sign  language,  being  able 
to  preach  in  signs  or  to  interpret  the  sermons  of  others  in  signs 
as  they  are  being  delivered. 

Brother  Early's  ministry  outside  the  school  has  been  princi- 
pally local.  Not  being  in  harmony  with  the  German  Baptisl 
Church  as  outlined  m  decisions  of  annual  meetings,  and  pleading 


J.  B.  EARLY 


BRETHREN   CHURCH— BIOGRAPHICAL.  669 

for  a  purely  "thus  saith  the  Lord"  church  discipline,  he  was  dis- 
fellowshiped,  together  with  many  others,  by  special  committee. 
Without  any  controversy  or  recriminations  nearly  all  united 
with  the  progressives,  so  called.  Brother  Early  was  unanimously 
chosen  pastor  of  the  new  organization.  At  this  time  (1901 ) 
both  branches  alternate  in  church  service  and  unite  in  Sunday- 
school  work,  with  greater  harmony  than  had  existed  for  years. 
Elder  Early  is  now  putting  forth  his  energies  to  build  up  the 
Brethren  Church  near  Salem,  living  on  his  farm,  ministering  to 
his  own  necessities,  ready  to  assist  in  any  good  work  and  labor  of 
love.     (Portrait  No.  389.) 

HENRY   EBE. 

Brother  Henry  Ebe  was  born  in  Wayne  County,  Ohio,  January 
18,  1833,  and  departed  this  life  January  13,  1893,  aged  sixty  years 
lacking  five  days. 

Brother  Ebe  came  to  California  in  1865,  and  lived  on  the  "West 
Side."  He  was  good  to  the  poor  whom  he  thought  worthy,  and 
his  house  was  always  a  home  and  stopping-place  for  his  brethren, 
friends,  and  neightbors.  Brother  Ebe  was  the  delegate  of  the 
church  in  California  to  the  annual  meeting,  before  the  division, 
with  the  desire  that  he  be  placed  on  the  standing  committee,  which 
request  was  denied,  because  he  was  only  a  deacon. 

h.   s.   EN  SLOW. 

H.  S.  Enslow  was  born  at  Middletown,  December  8,  1845. 
His  mother  died  when  he  was  about  two  years  old.  At  the  age 
of  fifteen  he  joined  the  Christian  Church.  In  February,  1865,  he 
enlisted  in  the  Union  Army.  He  was  sometimes  called  Deacon, 
because  of  his  pious  life.  He  was  mustered  out  of  service  at 
Memphis,  Tennessee. 

He  was  married  to  Miss  Annie  Kester,  February  18,  1889,  who. 
was  also  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church,  but  whose  parents 
were  Tunkers. 

They  moved  to  Kansas  in  1872.  About  1880  he  united  with 
the  Tunkers  near  Fort   Scott,   Kansas,  and  was  at  the  annual 


67O  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

meeting  in  1883,  at  Bismark  Grove,  Kansas,  and  heard  the  mut- 
terings  of  discontent  against  the  progressives  in  the  fall  of  1887. 
His  wife  died  of  consumption,  at  Pasadena,  California,  July  12, 
1888. 

He  was  disfellowshiped  for  communing  with  the  progressives 
in  1888.  About  New  Year,  1889,  ne  united  with  the  Brethren 
Church,  and  soon  began  preaching.  In  the  fall  of  1889  he  was 
married  to  Miss  McCullough,  of  Galesburg,  Kansas. 

He  has  since  preached  in  Iowa,  and  at  various  places  in  Kansas 
and  Nebraska ;  was  elected  district  evangelist  by  the  Kanemorado 
Conference.  His  home  at  present  is  at  Ottawa,  Kansas.  (Por- 
trait No.  322.) 

NOAH   FLORA. 

Noah  Flora  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Virginia,  September 
21,  1846.  He  and  his  wife  united  with  the  German  Baptist 
Church  in  January,  1870,  and  he  was  called  to  the  ministry  in 
1875.  He  continued  to  labor  with  them  until  April  6,  1886. 
Then  he  united  with  the  Brethren  Church  from  choice  of  con- 
viction. He  has  since  then  had  charge  of  the  Dallas  Center, 
Iowa,  church.  That  congregation  was  organized  with  ten  mem- 
bers. Brother  Flora  has  since  his  connection  with  the  Brethren 
Church  received  into  the  body  one  hundred  and  sixty  members, 
attended  eighty  funerals,  solemnized  eighty-four  marriages,  and 
baptized  one  hundred  and  eighty  persons  at  home  and  abroad. 
(Portrait  No.  106.) 

CLARA  FLORA. 

Airs.  Clara  Flora,  only  daughter  of  John  Myers,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, was  born  September  3,  1850,  in  Jo  Daviess  County,  Illinois. 

She  was  married  to  N.  A.  Flora,  of  Virginia,  November  29, 
1868. 

She  was  called  to  the  ministry  in  the  Brethren  Church,  about 
the  year  1892,  and  has  been  regularly  employed  as  pastor  and 
evangelist  since  that  time,  preaching  for  three  to  four  congre- 


672 


HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 


nations  at  the  same  time,  and  conducting  her  own  revivals.  She 
performs  all  the  duties  pertaining  to  the  ministry,  administering 
baptism,  solemnizing  marriages,  and  conducting  funerals. 

During  the  last    several    years,   she    has    traveled    fully  one 
thousand  miles,  and  preached  eleven  sermons  per  month. 

The  author  of  this  work  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  Sister 

Flora  during  the  first  years 
of  her  ministry,  and  can  tes- 
tify to  her  zeal  as  well  as  her 
eloquence.  She  belongs  to 
the  distinguished  Myers 
family  of  Tunker  preachers, 
elsewhere  referred  to  in  this 
work.  Her  motive  seems  to 
be  to  labor,  not  so  much  for 
a  crown  for  herself,  as  for 
the  joy  of  bringing  souls 
into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
(Portrait  No.  265.) 

CHRISTIAN     FORNEY. 


Christian  Forney  was  born 
in  Jenner  Township,  Somer- 
set County,  Pennsylvania. 
October  10,  1838.  He  is  a 
descendant  of  German  an- 
cestry. His  education  was 
mainly  obtained  in  the  corn- 
additional    help    of    normals. 


ELDER   LEVI    FRY, 

One  of  the  Veteran  Ministers  of  the 
Brethren  Church. 


mon  schools  of  his  day,  with    the 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  taught  his  first  term  of  school, 
near  Hooversville,  Shade  Township,  being  graded  number  one. 
This  won  for  him  an  excellent  reputation  as  teacher. 

In  1857  ne  accompanied  his  father,  John  Forney,  to  Carroll 
County,  Illinois.  On  the  eleventh  day  of  September,  1857,  he  was 
married  to  Sabina  Meyers,  daughter  of  Philip  Meyers,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Elder  Henry  Meyers, 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  673 

He  was  converted  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  and  united  with 
the  German  Baptist  Church,  at  Milledgeville,  Illinois.  In  1869 
he  moved  to  Falls  City,  Nebraska,  where  he  was  installed  as  a 
minister  June,  1870,  and  afterward  ordained  to  the  full  ministry, 
according  to  the  order  of  the  German  Baptists.  He  served  faith- 
fully in  this  capacity,  until  the  division  in  the  Tunker  Church. 
He  cast  his  lot  with  the  Brethren  Church,  and  has  been  a  faithful 
minister,  without  summer  or  winter  vacation,  and  much  of  the 
time  without  money  or  price.  During  the  time  of  his  ministry 
in  the  German  Baptist  Church,  he  was  called  upon  at  five  differ- 
ent times  to  defend  the  doctrine  of  the  church  in  public  discussion, 
and  always  proved  himself  able  to  cope  with  his  opponents,  to 
the  satisfaction  of  his  brethren.  His  traveling  and  preaching  in 
the  German  Baptist  Church  were  done  almost  entirely  at  his  own 
expense.  During  his  relation  with  the  Brethren  Church  but  a 
few  Sundays  had  passed  that  Brother  Forney  did  not  preach  from 
one  to  three  times,  and  often  traveled  twenty  to  thirty  miles  to 
do  so.  While  holding  revival  meeting  he  would  work  during  the 
day  and  preach  at  night,  for  weeks  in  succession. 

His  field  of  labor  has  been  in  the  west,  and  confined  to  the 
Kanemorado  Conference,  except  the  three  years  spent  in  Iowa. 
He  served  a  number  of  times  as  secretary  of  the  district  meet- 
ing in  the  German  Baptist  Church.  In  1898  and  1899  he  served 
as  president  of  the  Kanemorado  Conference,  apparently  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all. 

His  father,  John  Forney,  and  his  grandfather  were  both  elders 
in  the  German  Baptist  Church.     (Portraits  Nos.  24,  71.) 

HENRY  J.   FRANTZ. 

Henry  J.  Frantz  was  born  in  Roanoke  County,  Virginia,  Feb- 
ruary 7,  1834.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  he  emigrated  to 
Woodford  County,  Illinois,  and  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 
December  20,  1867,  he  and  Miss  Maria  J.  Gish  were  married. 
In  the  fall  of  1879  they  removed  to  Ocoya,  and  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business,  dealing  largely  in  grain  and  stock. 

In  1867  he  was  elected  treasurer  of  Woodford  County,  which 

4-3 


674  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

office  he  held  for  six  years  In  1874  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Legislature  of  Illinois.  He  served  one  term  in  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  was  then  elected  to  the  Senate.  While  in  the  Senate  he 
introduced  and  had  passed  the  Funding  Bill,  which  made  him 
famous  throughout  the  state,  and  won  for  him  a  place  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people. 

Brother  and  Sister  Frantz  united  with  the  German  Baptist 
Church  many  years  ago,  but  did  not  enjoy  opportunities  to  attend 
services,  there  being  no  organization  at  or  near  Ocoya  until  after 
the  great  division  in  the  fraternity.  Sometime  during  the  year 
1886,  Brother  Bashor  went  there,  and  held  a  revival,  resulting  in 
the  baptism  of  a  number  of  persons  and  the  organization  of  a 
Brethren  Church,  including  the  entire  Frantz  family,  still  under 
the  parental  roof.  During  the  years  1887  and  1888,  while  resid- 
ing at  South  Bend,  I  presided  over  the  Ocoya  church,  and  also 
baptized  a  number  of  applicants.  I  had  greatly  enjoyed  my  min- 
istration to  the  church,  as  well  as  my  visits  to  Brother  Frantz1 
and  the  membership  generally,  all  giving  evidence  of  being  in 
possession  of  the  pure  and  undenled  religion. 

On  account  of  the  disagreeable  climate  for  health  and  com- 
fort, Brother  Frantz  removed  to  Wellington,  Kansas,  some  time 
during  the  year  of  1899.  Other  members  also  left  the  place,  and 
the  few  that  remained  found  other  church  associations,  until  at 
this  writing,  there  is  not  a  member  of  the  Brethren  Church 
residing  at  Ocoya. 

Brother  Frantz  and  his  wife  remained  faithful  members. 
About  the  year  1894  Brother  Frantz'  health  began  to  fail,  and, 
although  every  reasonable  remedy  was  applied,  the  stately  form 
and  majestic  physique,  inhabited  by  as  noble  a  soul  as  ever 
occupied  a  human  form  divine,  was  compelled  to  submit  to  the 
inevitable. 

He  died  at  his  home  in  Wellington,  Kansas.  (Portrait  No. 
236.) 

S.   B.   FURRY. 

S.  B.  Furry,  youngest  son  of  Elder  Leonard  Furry,  was  born 
near  New  Enterprise,  Bedford  County,  Pennsylvania,  February 


676  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

17,  1836.  He  was  baptized  and  united  with  the  German  Baptist 
Church  in  the  fall  of  1858;  elected  deacon,  December  25,  1872, 
and  to  the  ministry  in  the  Brethren  Church  in  1888,  and  ordained 
elder  a  year  afterwards.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  com- 
menced teaching  school,  and  taught  five  terms  in  succession,  when 
he  married,  and  afterwards  turned  his  attention  to  farming. 

He  wrote  for  the  Gospel  Visitor  at  an  early  age,  and  after- 
wards was  a  regular  contributor  to  the  Christian  Family  Compan- 
ion, then  edited  and  published  by  Elder  H.  R.  Holsinger,  in 
Tyrone,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  the  first  Sunday-school  super- 
intendent in  the  Yellow  Creek  congregation  of  the  German  Bap- 
tist Church,  and  he  remained  in  that  office  through  annual 
rejections  until  1869,  when  he  moved  to  Martinsburg,  Blair 
County,  Pennsylvania.  In  that  vicinity  he  organized  and  super- 
intended, at  various  times,  three  Sunday-schools.  Two  of  these 
were  union. 

Finally,  on  account  of  defective  hearing,  he  severed  all  con- 
nection with  Sunday-school  work.  All  his  ministerial  labors  have 
been  free  of  charge,  as  well  as  all  his  literary  work,  which,  if 
compiled,  would  make  a  large  volume.  But  this  could  not  be 
done,  as  he  kept  no  files  of  his  manuscripts.  He  feels  no  regrets 
for  sentiments  advanced,  because  they  were  always  given  in  good 
faith,  and  only  after  mature  reflections. 

Many  years  ago  he  advocated  unfermented  wine  for  sacra- 
mental purposes,  which  called  forth  considerable  criticism.  At 
the  present  day  it  is  almost  entirely  used.  The  division  in  the 
German  Baptist  Church  pierced  his  heart  deeply,  for  he  saw  that 
it  meant  the  separation  of  dearest  friends,  and  when  he  was  com- 
pelled to  take  positive  sides  by  not  allowing  him  to  salute  the 
Brethren,  he  identified  himself  with  the  latter,  trusting  to  meet 
with  greater  spirituality  and  less  tradition  and  formality. 

J.    L.    GILLIN. 

John  Lewis  Gillin  was  born  October  12,  1871,  three  miles  north 
of  Hudson,  Iowa.  He  is  the  eldest  son  of  Brother  S.  B.  Gillin. 
He  spent  the  first  fourteen  years  of  his  life  on  the  farm,  attending 
country  school  as  much  as  possible. 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL. 


677 


October  28,  1888,  he  united  with  the  Brethren  Church  at  Hud- 
son, and  a  short  time  after  he  went  to  Fayette,  Iowa,  and  spent 
a  year  preparing  to  enter  a  college.  After  the  usual  effort  of 
young  men  of  determination, 
and  with  more  brains  than 
gold,  and  by  resorting  to  the 
ever-helpful  stepping-stone, — 
teaching  school, — he  suc- 
ceeded in  graduating  at 
Fayette,  in  the  spring  of 
1894,  and  at  the  Iowa  Col- 
lege, at  Grinnell,  where  he 
took  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts,  in  June,  1895. 

He  was  ordained  to  the 
ministry  of  the  Brethren 
Church  at  Hudson,  Iowa, 
on  January  15,  1894.  His 
first  charge  was  at  Brooklyn, 
Iowa,  while  attending  college. 
Immediately  after  graduating, 
he  took  charge  of  the  Enon 
church,  where  he  still  re- 
mains. He  has  been  very  successful  as  pastor  and  evangelist. 
He  was  married  to  Miss  Etta  Shaffner.  of  Hudson,  who  has 
proven  to  be  a  helpmate   indeed.      (Portrait  26.) 


J.   L.  GILLIN 


S.    B.    GRISSO. 

S.  B.  Grisso  was  born  near  Laketon,  Indiana,  November  26, 
1865.  The  first  twenty-four  years  of  his  life  were  spent  on  a 
farm.  He  united  with  the  Brethren  Church  in  April,  1891,  in  the 
Milford  congregation,  where  he  was  chosen  to  and  installed  in 
the  ministry  March  4,  1893,  G.  W.  Rench  officiating.  In  the  fall 
of  1894  he  entered  Ashland  College,  remaining  two  years.  In 
the  spring  of  1896  he  became  pastor  of  the  North  Liberty  and 
Ankenytown  congregations,  Ohio,  and  served  two  years,  and  was 


678  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ordained  to  the  eldership,  July  18,  1896,  J.  Allen  Miller  officiating. 
At  the  date  of  this  sketch  he  is  pastor  of  the  Bryan  and  Bethesda 
congregations,  Ohio.      (Portraits  100,  154.) 

M.    HADY. 

Michael  Hady  was  born  in  the  village  of  Erkshausen,  in  the 
province  of  Hesse,  Germany,  June  14,  1841.  He  received  a  good 
German  education,  standing  at  the  head  of  his  class.  He  emi- 
grated to  America  in  the  spring  of  1858,  and  took  up  his  home  at 
Meyers'  Mills,  Pennsylvania.  He  soon  after  apprenticed  him- 
self to  Peter  Meyers  to  learn  the  tanning  trade.  He  was  raised 
in  the  German  Reformed  faith,  and  had  learned  to  read  the 
Bible,  in  which  he  took  great  delight. 

The  Meyers  family  belonging  to  the  Tunkers,  Hady  was 
brought  under  the  ministration  of  the  Word  of  God  through 
Elder  John  Berkley,  Peter  Berkley,  and  C.  G.  Lint,  and  soon 
became  convinced  of  the  correctness  of  Tunker  doctrine. 

On  January  6,  1861,  he  and  Sister  Annie  Spicher  were  mar- 
ried by  Elder  Jacob  Blough.  In  the  fall  of  1861  they  moved  to 
Shanksville,  Somerset  County,  where  Brother  Hady  conducted  a 
tannery  for  Major  E.  M.  Schrock.  In  the  fall  of  1862  he  joined 
the  German  Baptist  Church,  of  which  his  wife  was  a  member, 
being  baptized  by  Elder  J.  P.  Cober. 

Brother  Hady  may  be  said  to  have  been  an  enthusiast,  and  read 
and  talked  and  wrote  almost  continuously  about  some  feature  of 
his  new  religion,  and  declared  that  everybody  ought  to  belong  to 
the  Tunkers.  He  was  one  of  the  best  correspondents  to  the 
Christian  Family  Companion,  and  an  active  agent. 

In  the  fall  of  1872  he  purchased  the  William  Beachley  Tannery, 
at  Dale  City,  or  Meyersdale,  and  removed  to  that  place.  There 
we  became  personally  acquainted,  belonging  to  the  same  congre- 
gation. During  the  progressive  era  Brother  Hady  fell  in  line,  and 
took  place  in  front  rank,  becoming  an  active  contributor  to  the 
Progressive  Christian.  In  January,  1881,  he  and  Dr.  Beachly, 
John  M.  Olinger,  and  Daniel  Schultz  started  a  mission  Sunday- 
school  on  the  north  side  of  the  town,  for  which  they  were  expelled 


68o  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

from  the  Meyersdale  German  Baptist  Church.  The  school  was 
first  organized  in  a  hall.  There  were  twenty  attendants  at  the 
first  meeting,  which  increased  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  by  the  close 
of  the  year,  Brother  Hady  being  the  superintendent.  This  Pro- 
gressive Brethren  Sunday-school  was  conducted  over  a  year 
before  the  general  division  in  the  church,  and  was  the  nucleus  of 
the  large  and  prosperous  Brethren  Church,  with  its  magnificent 
church  edifice.  Of  the  original  four,  dinger  and  Hady  alone 
are  living.  May  they  continue  faithful  a  few  more  years,  when 
we  may  all  meet  in  that  beautiful  world  of  peace,  where  no 
human  creed  or  mandatory  law  can  separate  us  or  disturb  the 
harmony  of  God's  chosen  people. 

E.   E.   HASKINS. 

Edward  Erastus  Haskins  was  born  at  Mt.  Gilead,  Ohio,  Sep- 
tember 25,  1866.  He  is  of  Scotch-English  lineage,  and  was  the 
youngest  of  a  family  of  eleven  children.  His  parents  were 
Presbyterians.  He  received  only  a  common-school  education. 
He  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza  King,  of  Soders,  Michigan,  when 
quite  young. 

He  united  with  the  Brethren  Church  at  Millersburg,  Iowa, 
under  the  ministration  of  John  A.  Myers,  and  was  ordained  to 
the  ministry  by  William  Palmer  and  John  A.  Myers,  in  1889.  He 
was  pastor  of  the  church  at  Aurelia,  Iowa,  during  1890  and  1891, 
and  preached  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  for  a  short  time.  He  is  at  pres- 
ent pastor  of  the  church  at  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania,  which  place 
he  has  occupied  since  August,  1894.  He  has  been  very  success- 
ful both  as  pastor  and  evangelist. 

Brother  Haskins  may  be  said  to  be  a  born  preacher.  He 
preaches  because  he  likes  it,  and  could  not  be  happy  if  he  could  not 
preach.  When  for  a  time  he  had  retired  from  the  work,  he  wrote 
me  inquiring  in  regard  to  taking  a  certain  charge.  I  answered 
in  these  words,  "Abide  at  Jerusalem."  He  took  my  advice  kindly, 
and  continued  his  preparation  a  year  or  more  longer,  then 
resumed  the  work,  and  has  since  been  eminently  successful. 
(Portraits  153,  331.) 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  68 1 

STROTHER  HANSEL. 

Strother  Hansel  was  born  in  1844,  in  Monongalia  County,  West 
Virginia.  In  1851  he  was  taken  to  Clayton  County,  Iowa,  where 
he  grew  up  and  settled.  He  was  twenty-six  years  of  age  when  he 
united  with  the  German  Baptist  Church.  He  went  ninety  miles 
to  Waterloo,  and  was  baptized,  before  he  had  heard  any  of  their 
ministers  preach.  The  same  autumn,  1870,  Elders  Solomon 
Stamy,  Peter  Forney,  and  Dr.  John  Beeghley  held  a  meeting  in 
Brother  Hansel's  vicinity,  and  installed  him  as  deacon.  After 
serving  as  deacon  for  two  years  he  was  installed  a  minister. 

When  the  church  division  came,  several  elders  visited  Brother 
Hansel  and  his  church,  and  wanted  them  to  submit  to  the  minutes 
of  annual  meeting,  but  he  and  fifty  of  the  members  arose,  declar- 
ing that  they  wanted  to  follow  the  gospel  alone.  All  but  eight 
stood  with  him. 

A  few  years  later  he  was  ordained  an  elder,  by  John  Nichol- 
son and  Benjamin  Beeghley.  He  has  sustained  this  relationship 
to  the  Clayton  County  church  since  his  ordination.  (Portrait 
No.  326.) 

L.    A.    HAZLETT. 

L.  A.  Hazlett  was  born  near  Mulberry,  Indiana,  February  16, 
1868.  He  was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  attended  country  schools, 
graduating  at  sixteen.  He  attended  two  terms  at  the  Central 
Normal  College,  at  Danville,  Indiana.  He  began  teaching  at  the 
age  of  nineteen,  in  Clinton  County,  Indiana,  and  was  assistant 
principal  of  the  Mulberry  schools  for  two  years.  After  teaching 
nine  years,  he  resigned  the  teacher's  profession  to  engage  in  the 
ministry.  He  was  received  into  the  Brethren  Church  under 
Brother  McFaden's  preaching  at  the  Mount  Pleasant  church  in 
1892,  spent  1892  and  1893  at  Ashland  College,  graduating  in  the 
English  course.  While  there  he  had  charge  of  the  penmanship 
department. 

While  yet  teaching,  he  preached  some  in  Kansas,  Iowa,  and 
Illinois,  holding  short  series  of  meetings  in  the  former  and  latter 
states.  He  conducted  the  first  communion  service  held  by  the 
brethren  in  Astoria,  Illinois. 


682  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

His  first  charge  was  at  New  Troy,  Michigan,  holding  a  series 
of  meetings  and  receiving  into  the  church  fourteen  members  by 
baptism  the  first  year.  He  then  accepted  a  larger  field  of  labor, 
at  Nappanee,  Indiana.  His  first  year's  efforts  at  Nappanee 
resulted  in  some  twenty  additions  to  the  church.  The  charge 
here,  the  first  year,  comprised  Nappanee,  Union,  Salem,  and  Lapaz 
congregations  ;  the  second  year,  Nappanee,  Union,  and  Salem.  He 
had  entered  upon  the  third  year  as  pastor  at  Union  and  Salem, 
but  resigned,  after  serving  six  months,  to  accept  a  call  at  Salis- 
bury, Pennsylvania,  April  I,  1900.  The  work  there  is  moving 
along  very  harmoniously,  with  evidences  of  spiritual  growth. 
This  congregation  bids  fair  to  become  one  of  the  strongest 
churches  in  the  brotherhood.      (Portrait  No.  327.) 

HANNAH    HECKMAN. 

Sister  Heckman  will  be  remembered  by  many  of  the  students 
of  Salem  College  at  Bourbon,  Indiana.  Her  maiden  name  was 
Teeter.  She  was  the  wife  of  Elder  Keylon  Heckman,  to  whom 
she  was  married  October  8,  1857,  and  they  united  with  the  Ger- 
man Baptist  Church  about  1868.  After  the  division  in  the  fra- 
ternity she  and  her  husband  united  with  the  Brethren  Church  at 
Norton  County,  Kansas,  where  she  died  January  21,  1901. 

LAURA    GROSSNICKLE    HEDRICKS. 

Laura  E.  N.  Grossnickle  was  born  at  Mapleville,  Maryland, 
March  30,  1858.  Her  parents  were  not  members  of  any  church 
during  her  childhood  years,  although  she  received  good  moral 
training. 

At  the  age  of  ten  years  she  attended  a  United  Brethren  revival 
meeting,  and  was  deeply  convicted  of  sin.  She  was  attending 
school,  and  was  passing  by  the  lonely  country  church  in  the 
evening,  on  her  way  from  school.  She  entered,  and,  kneeling  by 
the  altar,  she  asked  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  to  forgive  her  sin, 
and  make  her  His  child.  Four  years  afterward,  she  publicly  con- 
fessed Christ,  and  was  baptized  on  the  6th  of  October,  1872.  In 
writing  of  this  occasion  she  says :  "That  was  the  happiest  day  I 


GROUP   ii 


684  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

had  ever  known.  Never  had  the  sun  shone  so  brightly,  never  had 
the  birds  sung  so  sweetly,  never  had  the  sky  seemed  so  blue  as 
on  that  day." 

Ten  years  afterwards,  when  Brother  S.  H.  Bashor  organized  a 
Brethren  Church  in  the  same  old  church  house  in  which  years 
before  she  had  offered  her  child  heart  to  Christ,  she  became  one  of 
its  charter  members.  This  gave  a  new  impulse  to  her  religious 
life,  and  she  longed  to  do  something,  to  work  for  Christ. 

When  the  Sisters'  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  was  organ- 
ized, it  furnished  an  opportunity  for  work,  which  was  at  once 
accepted.  She  was  very  much  interested  in  mission  work,  and 
her  heart  reached  out  longingly  to  the  plenteous  harvest  fields, 
so  sadly  in  need  of  reapers.  She  felt  her  lack  of  necessary  quali- 
fications, but  so  strongly  did  the  need  of  earnest  workers  appeal 
to  her  heart  that  she  offered  herself  to  Christ  to  do  whatsoever 
He  would  have  her  do.  Just  then  there  came  to  her  the  call 
through  the  Sisters'  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  to  preach  the 
gospel.  At  first  she  felt  that  she  could  not  accept  it,  but  it  seemed 
to  come  so  directly  in  answer  to  prayer  that  she  dared  not  refuse. 

After  several  months'  consideration,  the  matter  was  presented 
to  the  church,  but  the  members  were  so  divided  on  the  question 
of  woman's  right  to  preach,  that  it  was  thought  best  for  the 
church  to  assume  no  responsibility  in  the  matter.  Without  the 
consent  of  the  church,  the  bishop  in  charge  would  not  ordain  her. 
In  November,  1889,  she  preached  her  first  sermon.  Text,  Matt. 
5:16.  In  August,  1890,  she  went  west,  and  preached  her  first 
sermon  away  from  home,  at  Independence,  Ohio,  spending  about 
four  months  preaching  in  Ohio  and  Indiana.  She  also  attended 
a  Brethren  camp-meeting  at  Independence. 

In  June,  1891,  she  received  a  call  to  take  charge  as  pastor  of 
the  Fairview  church,  four  miles  west  of  South  Bend,  Indiana. 
On  her  way  to  this  new  charge  she  attended  the  Ohio  State  Con- 
ference, and  was  ordained  there  June  4,  1891.  She  took  charge 
of  the  Fairview  church  soon  afterward,  and  continued  to  minister 
to  that  congregation  until  November,  1894. 

Sister  Grossnickle   solemnized  her  first  marriage  August   19, 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  685 

1 89 1,  at  South  Bend,  Indiana.  The  contracting  parties  were 
Francis  E.  Lambert  and  Sister  Matie  Moomaw. 

Her  first  baptism  was  administered  to  Miss  Nora  Whitesell, 
November  13,  1892.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  she  bap- 
tized three  sisters  in  a  stormy  lake,  in  the  presence  of  a  large 
number  of  spectators. 

In  November,  1894,  she  entered  the  field  as  president  and  trav- 
eling organizer  of  the  Sisters'  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor.  In 
that  capacity  she  visited  nearly  all  the  states  in  which  there  were 
Brethren  Churches,  and  organized  many  new  societies.  After 
continuing  in  this  work  for  three  years,  she  resigned  that  posi- 
tion, and  accepted  another  in  which  she  presides  over  a  home  as 
wife,  and  mother,  and  housekeeper. 

Sister  Laura  E.  N.  Grossnickle  and  Brother  George  W.  Hed- 
ricks  were  married  at  Mapleville,  Maryland,  January  19,  1898, 
Joshua  Long  and  E.  B.  Shaver  solemnizing  the  marriage.  Their 
home  is  in  Dayton,  Virginia.     (Portraits  262,  48.) 

WILLIAM    H.    HERRINGTON. 

William  H.  Herrington  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, December  16,  1846,  and  died  at  St.  Francis  Hospital, 
Freeport,  Illinois,  July  22,  1895. 

He  was  married  to  Sadie  Miller,  daughter  of  Elder  D.  M. 
Miller,  December  10,  1872,  by  Elder  Jacob  Hauger.  He  was 
baptized  by  Elder  Jacob  Trostle,  in  the  winter  of  1875,  and  united 
with  the  German  Baptist  Church.  In  the  fall  of  1884  he  united 
with  the  Brethren  Church  at  Bethlehem, — the  first  Brethren 
Church  in  northern  Illinois, — and  from  that  day  was  a  leading 
spirit  in  the  Brethren  Church  at  Bethlehem,  Lanark,  and  Milledge- 
ville.  His  strong  characteristics  were  wise  counsel  and  leading 
in  song.  His  death  was  caused  by  the  fracture  of  the  right  leg 
above  the  knee,  from  which  he  suffered  intensely  for  about  six 
months. 

He  was  deacon  for  fifteen  years, — eleven  years  in  the  Brethren, 
and  four  years  in  the  German  Baptist  Church. 


686  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

D.    J.    HETRIC. 

D.  J.  Hetric,  first  pastor  of  Oakland,  Pennsylvania,  Brethren 
Church,  was  born  March  25,  1852,  of  humble  parentage.  He 
was  raised  on  a  farm.  He  joined  the  church  in  February,  187 1, 
at  a  meeting  conducted  by  John  Nicholson.  He  has  an  ordinary 
education,  feels  that  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  improvement, 
fears  God,  and  hopes  for  salvation  for  all  who  obey  God,  through 
His  Son,  Jesus  Christ.      (Portrait  No.  109.) 

DANIEL  A.    HOPKINS. 

Daniel  A.  Hopkins  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Virginia, 
January  19,  1846.  He  was  married  to  Josephine  Boothe,  Octo- 
ber 12,  1865.  They  united  with  the  German  Baptist  Church  on 
August  13,  1866,  and  soon  after  they,  with  his  parents  and  others, 
removed  to  Cass  County,  Indiana,  arriving  at  Loganport,  Novem- 
ber 30,  1866.  He  was  a  member  of  the  German  Baptists  twenty- 
three  years,  up  to  August  13,  1889,  when  he  united  with  the 
Brethren  Church,  under  the  pastorate  of  S.  H.  Bashor.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1890,  he  was  installed  a  deacon  by  Brother  Bashor,  and 
served  as  such  until  June  26,  same  year,  when  he  was  ordained 
to  the  eldership.     (Portrait  No.  98.) 

A.    J.    INGLERIGHT. 

A.  J.  Ingleright  was  born  in  Berrien  County,  Michigan,  Janu- 
ary 18,  1842.  He  was  married  in  1867,  and  baptized  in  1871,  and 
called  to  the  ministry  the  same  year,  and  has  continued  to  preach 
since  that  time  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  working  most  of  the  time 
in  the  vicinity  where  he  was  born  and  raised.  At  the  time  of  the 
division  the  Berrien  church  numbered  about  one  hundred  mem- 
bers, sixty-five  of  whom  fell  in  line  with  the  unison  of  the  gospel 
trumpet,  and  united  in  forming  a  Brethren  Church.  Those  mem- 
bers, with  others  since  added,  now  constitute  the  New  Troy 
Brethren  Church.  His  address  is  South  Bend,  Indiana.  (Por- 
trait No.  384.) 


688  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

E.    M.    JERROLD. 

E.  M.  Jerrold  joined  the  Brethren  Church  of  Philadc.»yTiia, 
coming  from  the  Free  Methodists.  After  leaving  them  he  preached 
in  a  hall  for  a  small  body  of  people,  some  of  whom  had  been 
baptized  with  trine  immersion  by  a  minister  from  near  Boston, 
though  he  had  previously  met  our  people.  His  baptism  took 
place  in  the  presence  of  his  congregation.  I  left  that  night  for 
Johnstown.  He  followed  soon  after,  and  entered  upon  his  work 
in  the  church. 

Brother  Jerrold  was  a  good  preacher.  He  knew  how  to  reach 
the  hearts  of  the  people.  Elder  Shaver  speaks  of  him  in  Vir- 
ginia: "His  preaching  drew  crowds  of  people  of  all  denominations, 
who  would  gather  round  the  stand,  and,  while  he  would  be  preach- 
ing, give  their  approval,  by  saying,  'Amen.'  When  urged  by  our 
brethren  to  preach  doctrine,  and  define  our  peculiar  tenets,  he 
undertook  the  work  to  a  full  house,  beginning  by  saying:  'We 
believe  in  God,  and  that  He  is  triune  God ;  we  must  have  faith 
in  Him,  repentance  toward  Him,  be  baptized  into  Him.  Bapto 
means  dip.  We  read  of  sprinkling  in  the  Old  Bible;  but  they 
sprinkled  the  door-posts.  That  would  do  for  door-posts,  but 
not  for  me.  Peter  refused  to  allow  Jesus  to  wash  his  feet,  and 
here's  the  Word,  "If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part  with  Me." 
Now,  I  am  afraid  should  I  act  like  Peter,  Jesus  would  have  no 
part  with  me.  Last  night  you  said,  "Amen."  Why  don't  you 
say,  "Amen,"  now.  These  are  only  the  words  of  Jesus — the  same 
Author  as  the  words  of  last  night.'  "  When  preaching  in  Cone- 
maugh,  Pennsylvania,  some  one  asked  him  if  he  believed  in  shout- 
ing. "Yes,"  he  replied,  "provided  you  live  as  high  as  you  jump." 
Brother  Johnson  says  of  his  last  days,  "The  church  cared  tenderly 
for  him,  and  he  had  every  attention  that  he  needed,  medical  and 
every  other  way." 

He  went  from  McComb,  Illinois,  to  Harrison,  Arkansas,  where 
his  health  failed.  The  skeleton  fingers  of  death  could  not  be  kept 
from  his  heart-strings.  He  met  the  last  enemy  "fully  resigned 
to  the  will  of  the  Lord,"  and  entered  that  land  where  all  burdens 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  689 

are  laid  down,  where  those  who  win  many  to  righteousness  shall 
shine  as  those  higher  stars  whose  luster  never  grows  dim. 

J.  R.   KELLER. 

J.  R.  Keller  was  born  in  Baltimore  County,  Maryland  Febru- 
ary 11,  1852.  His  parents  moved  to  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania, 
in  1865,  and  lived  near  Mechanicsburg  until  1870.  In  1870  they 
moved  to  Nodaway  County,  Missouri.  Brother  Keller's  educa- 
tional privileges  were  very  limited,  being  kept  out  of  school  to 
assist  his  father,  who  was  a  blacksmith. 

What  education  he  obtained  he  received  by  hard  study,  after 
being  called  to  the  ministry.  His  parents  were  members  of  the 
German  Baptist  Church.  J.  R.  moved  to  Holt  County,  Missouri, 
November  5,  1872,  and  married  Susan  Virginia  Andes,  daughter 
of  John  Andes,  September  9,  1875. 

Her  parents  were  German  Baptists,  formerly  from  Shenandoah 
Valley,  Virginia.  They  united  with  the  German  Baptists  May 
14,  1876,  being  baptized  by  Elder  John  Forney.  He  was  called 
to  the  ministry  October  5,  1878,  advanced  to  the  second  degree 
June  12,  1 88 1. 

They  moved  to  Mound  City,  Missouri,  in  March,  1891,  and 
engaged  in  the  grocery  business  for  a  short  time.  He  withdrew 
from  the  German  Baptists  on  December  13,  1890,  and  united  with 
the  brethren  at  Falls  City,  Nebraska,  August  7,  1892.  He  was 
received  into  the  Silver  Creek  congregation  by  Elder  John  H. 
Burnsworth.  His  wife  united  at  the  same  place  October  20,  1892, 
when  the  Kanemorado  district  conference  was  in  session.  At 
this  time  and  place  Brother  Keller  was  ordained  as  an  elder,  by 
E.  L.  Yoder  and  W.  J.  H.  Bauman. 

He  was  called  to  take  charge  of  the  first  Brethren  Church  in 
Beatrice,  Nebraska,  November  28,  1892,  and  remained  there 
about  seven  months.  He  then  moved  to  Beaver  City,  Furnas 
County,  and  served  them  as  pastor  from  October  1,  1893,  to  Octo- 
ber, 1895.  ^-e  received  into  the  church  during  his  ministry 
there  fourteen  members.  He  also  held  a  meeting  at  Portis, 
Kansas,  and  received  thirty-three  members  into  fellowship.     He 

44 


69O  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

moved  to  Falls  City,  and  spent  the  winter  of  1895  in  evangelistic 
work,  holding  meetings  at  Adrian,  Missouri ;  Preston,  Nebraska, 
and  Portis,  Kansas. 

He  had  charge  of  the  work  at  Silver  Creek  church  from  March 
1,  1896,  to  March  1,  1898,  and  received  into  fellowship  twenty- 
three  members.  He  also  began  a  work  in  Falls  City,  and  in  the 
second  year  the  congregation  built  a  house  of  worship  valued 
at  $3,500;  and  at  Nickerson,  Kansas,  he  also  dedicated  a  church 
and  received  ten  persons  into  fellowship. 

He  served  the  Kanemorado  district  conference  as  clerk  one 
year  and  moderator  two  years.  He  also  began  the  publication 
of  the  Berean  Mission  Witness,  an  eight-page  paper  devoted 
exclusively  to  the  full  gospel. 

During  the  winter  of  1899  he  was  engaged  in  evangelistic  work 
in  northern  Indiana,  preaching  at  Warsaw,  Dutchtown,  Claypool,. 
and  Union  Salem. 

In  May,  1900,  he  moved  to  Morrison's  Cove,  Pennsylvania, 
and  took  charge  of  the  New  Enterprise,  Fredericksburg,  Fair- 
view,  and  Liberty  congregations,  and  is  now  located  at  New 
Enterprise. 

Brother  Keller  also  gained  some  reputation  as  a  magnetic 
healer.     (Portrait  No.  333.) 

WILLIAM     KEIFER. 

William  Keifer  was  born  in  Berks  County,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1836.  In  the  same  year  he  was  taken  to  Lebanon  County.  When 
fifteen  years  old,  his  parents  moved  to  Ohio.  He  joined  the 
United  Brethren  Church  when  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  and 
remained  in  that  denomination  until  1861.  Then  he  united  with 
the  German  Baptist  Church.  He  was  baptized  by  Elder  Jacob 
Garver,  of  the  Mohican  church,  of  which  he  remained  a  member 
until  the  division  of  that  body.  He  was  married  to  Sarah  Martin 
in  1857. 

Brother  Keifer  was  called  to  the  ministry  in  the  German  Bap- 
tist Church  November  21,  1874,  in  the  old  Mohican  church,  and 
remained  one  of  its  members  until  the  division,  when  he  espoused 


GROUP   13 


692 


HISTORY    OF   THE   TUNKERS. 


the  brethren's  cause,  and  has  preached  for  the  Fair  Haven  church 
ever  since  its  organization,  in  1882,  until  February,  1899,  when 
he  declined  to  serve  them  any  longer.  The  old  Mohican  church 
and  the  Fairhaven  Brethren  Church  are  in  talking  distance  to 
each  other ;  thus  the  above  pastor  has  preached  on  nearly  the 
same  ground,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  and  to  many  of  the 
same  people  for  nearly  twenty-five  years,  without  any  intermis- 
sion.    (Portraits  Nos.  95,  180.) 


ISAAC      KILHEFFNER. 

Isaac  Kilheffner  was  born 
in  Lancaster  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, January  28,  1850. 
In  1854  his  parents  moved 
onto  a  small  farm  four  miles 
east  of  Ashland,  Ohio.  In 
the  winter  of  1870  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Amanda  Kahl.  In 
1872  he  united  with  the 
Tunker  Church,  and  in  1877 
was  elected  and  installed  as 
a  minister  of  the  gospel. 

Of  him  an  Ashland  City 
paper  says,  "Reverend  Kil- 
heffner was  a  man  of  good 
intentions  and  right  prac- 
tice, of  generous  disposi- 
tion and  Christian  character."  His  neighbors  reposed  confidence 
in  him,  and  he  was  often  called  upon  to  render  important  service 
for  them.  For  the  last  ten  years  he  has  been  in  active  service  as 
a  minister  of  the  Tunker  Church,  preaching  at  various  points 
throughout  Ohio  and  other  states,  with  good  success.  His  last 
charge  was  at  Gretna,  Ohio,  where  he  was  very  popular ;  and  his 
funeral  was  attended  by  a  number  of  parishioners.  He  took  an 
interest  in  education,  and  was  a  trustee  of  Ashland  College  almost 


ISAAC    KILHEFFNER 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  693 

since  its  establishment.  He  died  July  2,  1892,  aged  forty-two 
years  five  months  and  four  days. 

Elder  J.  P.  Brown,  who  was  intimately  acquainted  with  Brother 
Kilheffner  from  his  youth,  wrote  of  him  at  the  time  of  his  death 
as  follows : — 

"Brother  Isaac  Kilheffner  was  the  most  active  member  of  the 
Ohio  Home  Mission  Board,  where  his  absence  will  be  greatly  felt. 
When  he  heard  of  a  place  where  an  evangelist  was  wanted  and 
none  could  be  had,  he  went  himself,  and  he  always  had  good  suc- 
cess. He  planted  churches  at  various  places  in  Ohio,  Indiana, 
and   Michigan."      (Portraits  35,  370.) 

J.   L.    KIM  MEL. 

J.  L.  Kimmel  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania, 
February  18,  1856. 

He  united  with  the  German  Baptist  Church  in  1879,  and  was 
elected  a  deacon  the  same  year.  In  the  year  1880  he  was  elected 
to  the  ministry,  and  in  1881  was  advanced  to  the  second  degree. 
When  the  Brethren  Church  was  organized,  Brother  Kimmel 
became  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  cause. 

In  1886  he  entered  Ashland  College,  and  graduated  from  that 
institution  in  1888. 

He  has  held  charges  in  Indiana,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio,  and 
is  now  located  at  Buckeye  City,  Ohio,  and  has  charge  of  three  con- 
gregations. 

Brother  Kimmel  presided  at  the  Ohio  state  conference  in  1885 
and  in  1899,  and  was  again  elected  for  the  year  1900. 

He  is  president  of  the  Ohio  Home  Mission  Board  and  of  the 
board  of  elders,  a  member  of  the  ministerial  examining  board, 
and  a  trustee  of  Ashland  College. 

It  is  significant  that  he  was  baptized,  ordained,  and  advanced 
to  the  second  degree  of  the  ministry  by  the  author  of  this  work. 
(Portrait  No.  105.) 

JOHN     HENRY    KNEPPER. 

John  Henry  Knepper  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, October  25,  1849.     His  parents  and  grandparents  on  both 


694  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

sides  were  Pennsylvania  Dutch.  His  father,  Elder  Salomon 
Knepper,  was  a  pioneer  English  preacher  in  the  Tunker  Church 
in  Somerset  County.  He  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  intel- 
ligence in  his  day.  He  died  in  1854,  when  John  was  about  five 
years  old. 

After  finishing  his  education  as  far  as  he  could  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  township,  John  Henry  attended  the  normal  schools 
of  Berlin  in  the  summers,  and  taught  in  the  winters.  By  diligent 
application  to  his  studies,  he  was  enabled  to  teach  several  terms, 
to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  parents  and  pupils,  before  he  had 
reached  his  eighteenth  year. 

After  following  the  several  occupations  of  photographer,  rail- 
road conductor,  and  traveling  salesman,  he  was  called  to  the  min- 
istry, on  the  first  day  of  January,  1881,  under  the  old  system  in 
the  Tunker  Church,  and  was  installed  into  the  work  whereunto 
he  had  been  called.  He  was  advanced  to  the  second  degree 
February  22,  1882,  and  was  ordained  to  the  eldership  July 
3,  1887.  He  accepted  the  call  to  the  ministry  with  some  reluc- 
tance, and  entered  upon  his  duties  with  many  doubts  and  mis- 
givings as  to  his  capabilities  for  the  high  calling.  But  after  he 
had  once  settled  down  to  the  work,  he  went  about  his  Master's 
business  with  a  will  that  at  once  assured  success,  and  few  men 
have  grown  in  favor  with  God  and  man  more  rapidly  than  has 
Brother  Knepper.  After  serving  the  Berlin  charge  for  seven 
years,  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  Somerset  Street  Brethren  Church, 
of  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania.  And  after  a  pleasant  pastorate  of 
three  years  he  returned  to  Berlin.  He  accepted  the  pastorate  of 
the  Meyersdale  church  in  April,  1899,  and  is  yet  pastor.  Brother 
Knepper  was  moderator  of  the  Pennsylvania  state  conference  five 
times,  and  was  vice-moderator  of  the  national  conference  in  1887 
and  1894,  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  and  in  1899  was  moderator  of  the 
national  conference  held  at  Winona  Park,  Indiana. 

Brother  Knepper  is  a  self-made  man  in  the  full  sense  of  the 
term.  Having  always  been  progressive,  he  naturally  fell  in  with 
the  work  of  the  brethren  in  the  division  in  1881  with  all  his  heart. 
Few  men  as  young  as  Brother  Knepper  have  risen  as  high  in  their 
denomination. 


HI 


CxROUP    14 


696  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

He  was  married  to  Miss  Emma  J.  Brubaker,  daughter  of  Her- 
man W.  Brubaker,  in  1869.  She  has  been  to  him  a  loving  wife 
and  a  noble  helpmeet.      (Portraits  17,  132.) 

ISAAC     LEEDY. 

Isaac  Leedy  was  born  in  Morrison's  Cove,  Bedford  County, 
Pennsylvania,  December  2$,  1827.  In  September  of  1829  his 
parents  moved  to  Knox  County,  Ohio,  and  located  in  the  vicinity 
of  Ankenytown  Brother  Leedy  still  occupies  a  part  of  the  farm 
upon  which  his  father  settled  when  first  coming  to  the  community. 
He  was  married  to  Nancy  Bostater,  December  25,  1851,  who  died 
March  4,  1866,  leaving  him  with  five  children,  the  youngest  of 
whom  was  only  four  days  old. 

In  the  autumn  of  1856  he  joined  the  Tunkers.  Shortly  after 
he  united  with  the  church,  at  the  council  meeting  preparatory 
to  the  communion,  the  question  was  submitted,  Shall  we  continue 
the  present  order  in  observing  feet-washing,  or  follow  the  example 
of  Christ  ?  There  were  only  five  votes  in  the  affirmative ;  but 
through  the  influence  of  adjoining  elders  the  double  mode  was 
continued.  Then  those  who  had  voted  against  it  were  notified  to 
appear  before  a  committee  of  elders,  on  September  14,  1858.  The 
decision  of  the  committee  was  that  all  those  who  had  contended 
for  the  single  mode  were  disfellowshiped. 

Brother  Isaac  Leedy  and  fifteen  others  were  thus  disfellow- 
shiped. They  continued  to  worship  God  and  obey  the  ordinances 
of  Christ  as  beforehand.  Among  them  was  Elder  Samuel  A. 
Leedy,  a  minister  of  influence  and  a  man  of  unusual  power  in  the 
gospel ;  and  the  entire  body  belonged  to  the  most  intelligent  and 
best  people  of  the  community. 

In  the  spring  of  1859  Isaac  Leedy  was  called  to  the  ministry  in 
the  Leedy  Brethren  Church.  Having  but  a  very  ordinary  educa- 
tion, he  at  once  set  about  to  equip  himself  for  his  new  duties.  His 
preaching  was  characterized  by  an  intense  earnestness  and  strong 
faith  in  what  he  taught.  In  1883  the  Leedy  brethren  and  the  pro- 
gressive brethren  of  the  community  consolidated,  and  formed  a 
congregation  of  the  Brethren  Church,  Brother  Leedy  retaining 


BRETHREN    CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL. 


697 


his  official  standing,  which  he  has  continued  to  magnify  to  the 
present  date. 

October  23,  1867,  he  married  Lovina  Wolf,  of  Miami  County, 
Indiana.  Elder  Isaac  Leedy  is  in  religion  and  morality  and  soci- 
ety a  stalwart  of  the  stalwarts.     (Portrait  No.  248.) 


SAMUEL  A.    LEEDY. 

Elder  Samuel  A.  Leedy 
was  born  in  Bedford  County, 
Pennsylvania,  May  19,  18 16, 
and  was  married  to  Eliza- 
beth Bosstater,  February  22, 
1838.  He  was  baptized  by 
Elder  John  Multzbaugh,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-two  years, 
in  the  Owl  Creek  church, 
Knox  County,  Ohio.  He 
was  chosen  to  the  ministry 
in  the  same  church  at  the 
age  of  about  thirty-eight 
years. 

In  1858  a  division  oc- 
curred in  the  Owl  Creek 
church,  on  account  of  some 
difference  of  opinion  in  re- 
gard to  the  manner  of  observing  the  ordinances.  This  resulted 
in  the  organization  of  the  Leedy  brethren,  as  they  were  called  by 
way  of  distinction,  Brother  Samuel  A  Leedy  being  one  of  the 
leading  actors  in  the  work.  He  afterwards  moved  to  Missouri, 
where  he  organized  a  church,  which  still  lives  and  serves  the 
Lord  and  keeps  the  ordinances,  although  Brother  Leedy  has  long 
since  ^one  to  his  reward.  The  Brethren  Church  at  Montevallo, 
Missouri,  is  presided  over  by  his  son,  Samuel  B.  Leedy. 


\o       -/ 

■  -■ 

t%  A^v   , 

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Tbif.:^I 

KfF  **■•       ffc 

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WKmE"'~    -                   '  * 

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SAMUEL   A.    LEEDY   AND  WIFE 


698  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Z.  T.   LIVENGOOD. 

Zachariah  T.  Livengood  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, December  13,  1849,  and  was  raised  on  a  farm  near 
Milledgeville.  Here  he  received  a  common-school  education  and 
six  months  in  the  Lanark  High  School.  Afterward  he  taught 
five  terms  of  country  schools. 

On  good  Friday,  April  3,  1874,  he  was  baptized  by  Elder  D. 
M.  Miller,  of  the  German  Baptist  Church,  in  Otter  Creek,  at 
Dutchtown,  and  was  elected  deacon  in  the  Tunker  Church  June 
16,  1881.  On  September  11,  1881,  he  was  elected  to  the  minis- 
try by  an  open  count.  Elder  J.  H.  Moore,  M.  M.  Eshelman,  and 
William  Moore  held  the  election.  This  is  the  only  case  of  an 
open  count  in  the  election  of  a  minister  in  the  Tunker  Church,  so 
far  as  known. 

"I  was  expelled  from  the  Tunker  Church  June  20,  1884,  for 
recognizing  Henry  H.  Meyers  as  a  member  of  the  church.  Elders 
present  at  the  time  of  my  expulsion :  S.  Z.  Sharp,  Daniel  Dear- 
dorff,  J.  J.  Emmert,  Enoch  Eby,  David  Eby,  George  Zollars,  David 
Price,  and  Edmond  Forney,  and  other  ministers.  Daniel  Dear- 
dorff  was  moderator. 

"Elder  Henry  R.  Holsinger  organized  a  Brethren  Church  in 
the  German  Baptist  Church  at  Dutchtown,  July  14,  1884.  At 
this  time  I  united  with  the  new  organization.  There  were  twenty- 
nine  others.  I  was  the  only  minister,  and  was  then  ordained  to 
the  full  ministry,  and  began  to  preach  at  once  for  the  thirty  mem- 
bers of  the  Brethren  Church.  Under  my  ministry  the  Bethle- 
hem, Milledgeville,  and  Lanark  church  buildings  were  erected. 
And  under  my  pastorate  the  congregations  were  formed.  I  have 
had  charge  of  the  Lanark  congregation  for  about  fifteen  years. 

"I  was  married  to  Miss  Belinda  Hauger,  November  26,  1872. 
We  had  one  child,  John  Arthur,  born  July  29,  1876."  (Portrait 
No.  96.) 

W.  M.  LYON. 

W.  M.  Lyon  was  born  in  Grant  County,  West  Virginia,  April 
30,  1859;  was  baptized  March  30,  1879;  elected  to  the  ministry 


CROUP    1=; 


700  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

October  29,  1882 ;  began  teaching  public  schools  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  years ;  taught  ten  years.  Although  he  did  not  graduate 
from  any  college,  he  had  the  highest  grade  of  certificate  in  his  pro- 
fession. He  was  married  November  2,  1886,  to  Miss  Stoner, 
daughter  of  Elder  E.  W.  Stoner,  of  Union  Bridge,  Maryland.  He 
was  sent  to  Washington  City,  District  of  Columbia,  October  4, 
1892,  under  the  direction  of  the  general  mission  board  of  the  Ger- 
man Baptist  Church,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Brethren  Church  in  the  same  city.  He  was  led  to 
take  this  step  by  the  attempt  to  enforce  the  annual  meeting  deci- 
sions and  mandates  concerning  the  "order."     (Portrait  No.  22.) 

j.  c.  MAC  KEY. 

John  Crawford  Mackey,  first  and  only  pastor  to  date  (Decem- 
ber, 1899)  of  the  Salisbury  church,  Pennsylvania,  was  born  Sep- 
tember 24,  1854,  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  received 
his  education,  finishing  in  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Theological 
Seminary  of  North  America,  graduating  in  1880. 

Brother  Mackey  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  by  the  Northern 
Reformed  Presbytery,  and  installed  pastor  of  the  First  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church,  Brooklyn,  New  York,  February  20,  1881, 
and  subsequently  served  as  pastor  of  the  Jane  Street  church,  New 
York  City. 

Brother  Mackey  entered  the  Brethren  Church  under  the  min- 
istry of  Brother  J.  D.  McFaden,  in  1890,  and  began  his  pastoral 
work  in  Conemaugh,  Pennsylvania,  in  1891.  His  Brethren 
charges  were  Conemaugh,  Pennsylvania ;  Hagerstown,  Maryland, 
and  Meyersdale,  Pennsylvania.  His  present  field  is  the  Bear 
Creek  church,  Ohio.     (Portrait  No.  150.) 

M.    C.    MEYERS. 

Michael  Conway  Meyers  was  born  in  Westmoreland  County, 
Pennsylvania,  November  12,  1857;  was  educated  at  Ashland  Col- 
lege and  the  Mount  Pleasant  Classical  and  Scientific  Institute. 
He  was  married  to  Miss  Lovina  Ellen  Young,  January,  1881, 
called  to  the  ministry  June  17,  1894,  and  became  secretary  of  the 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  70I 

Pennsylvania  church  and  Sahbath-school  conventions  the  same 
year,  which  office  he  held  for  three  years.  He  accepted  a  call  to 
the  Berlin  charge  as  pastor  from  April  I,  1898,  to  April  I,  1899, 
during  which  time  the  author  of  this  book  attended  his  ministra- 
tions, and  received  much  kindness  at  his  hands.  (Portrait 
No.  20.) 

MRS.  M.  C   MEYERS. 

Miss  Lovina  Ellen  Young  was  born  in  Westmoreland  County, 
Pennsylvania,  May  7,  1862.  She  received  a  common-school  edu- 
cation only.  She  united  with  the  German  Baptist  Church  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  and  became  Mrs.  M.  C.  Meyers  January,  188 1,  and 
was  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  Brethren  Church  of  Jones' 
Mill.  In  1892  she  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  national  executive 
committee  of  the  Sisters'  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor ;  was  also 
elected  national  secretary,  which  office  she  held  for  several  years. 
In  1896  she  organized  a  state  Sisters'  Society  of  Christian 
Endeavor,  and  has  been  state  president  since  that  time,  except  one 
term.  In  1899  she  was  chosen  field  secretary  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Sisters'  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  for  the  purpose  of  solicit- 
ing funds  to  erect  a  church  in  Washington  City.  She  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  an  earnest 
advocate  of  the  temperance  cause.     (Portrait  No.  266.) 

WALDERMER  MEYER. 

Waldermer  Meyer  was  born  in  Gorlitz,  Germany,  October  18, 
1849.  When  a  young  man  of  sixteen  he  left  home  to  sail  the  sea, 
and  after  several  years  of  ocean  life,  with  its  hardships  and  varied 
experiences,  he  landed  in  San  Francisco.  Not  long  after  he  made 
his  home  with  Sister  Kate  Gamble  and  her  husband,  at  Santa 
Rosa. 

While  living  with  them,  he  became  interested  in  the  doctrine  of 
the  Brethren  Church,  and  at  about  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  was 
baptized  and  received  as  a  member.  Soon  after  this  he  was 
elected  to  the  ministry,  and  preached  with  acceptance  and  ability 
for  about  eight  years.     His  sermons  were  very  instructive  and 


702  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

full  of  life  and  hope.  He  was  an  earnest  defender  of  the  gospel- 
alone  doctrine,  and  served  one  year  as  state  evangelist.  He  was 
married  to  Miss  Alice  Meyer,  November  28,  1880,  and  died 
December  30,  1890. 

w.  s.  m'clain. 

W.  S.  McClain  was  born  at  Masontown,  Pennsylvania,  March 
1,  1861 ;  was  baptized  at  Waterloo,  Iowa,  in  March,  1877,  by  Elder 
Benjamin  Bueghley  ;  married  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Gnagey,  at  Summit 
Mills,  Pennsylvania,  January  17,  1884,  by  Elder  John  A.  Miller. 
He  moved  to  Aurelia,  Iowa,  March,  1884.  He  was  elected  dea- 
con March  2,  1886,  and  ordained  to  the  eldership  of  the  Mount 
Zion  Brethren  Church,  Aurelia,  Iowa,  November  29,  1890,  by 
Elder  H.  R.  Holsinger.  He  moved  to  Glendale,  Arizona,  Novem- 
ber 25,  1897,  and  to  131J  South  Broadway,  Los  Angeles,  Cali- 
fornia, January  1,  1900.     (Portrait  No.  97.) 

d.  c.  MOOMAW. 

Daniel  C.  Moomaw  was  born  November  28,  1839,  in  Botetourt 
County,  Virginia.  He  is  a  son  of  Benjamin  F.  Moomaw.  Dur- 
ing his  minority  he  worked  on  his  father's  farm  and  attended  the 
winter  schools  of  the  neighborhood,  which  afforded  but  meager 
opportunities  for  acquiring  an  education.  His  religious  training 
was  more  favorable.  His  father  being  a  minister  of  the  gospel 
and  a  devoted  Christian,  Daniel  had  the  benefit  of  evening  read- 
ings, singing,  and  prayers,  and  opportunities  of  hearing  Tunker 
preaching  every  Sunday  morning.  Hence  it  may  be  said  that 
from  his  youth  he  feared  the  Lord  and  abstained  from  the  gross 
vices  common  among  southern  boys, — swearing,  drinking,  and 
gaming. 

In  the  spring  of  1862  he  was  brought  under  serious  convictions, 
through  the  death  of  a  young  brother  and  sister,  and  on  Septem- 
ber 20  of  the  same  year  he  was  received  into  the  church  at  the  Old 
Valley  meeting-house. 

October,  1864,  he  was  married  to  Rebecca  Ann,  daughter  of 
Elder  Peter  Crumpacker. 

They  lived  at  Cloverdale  until  1870,  when  they  moved  to  Mont- 


GROUP   16 


7°4 


HISTORY   OF   THE   TUNKERS. 


gomery  County,  where  they  remained  until  1880.  In  the  mean- 
time Moomaw  had  been  called  to  the  ministry.  He  preached  his 
first  sermon  at  Dry  River,  from  the  text,  "Search  the  Scriptures." 
During  the  first  ten  years  of  his  ministry  he  attended  to  his  secular 
affairs,  as  was  the  custom  of  Tunker  ministers  at  that  time,  and 
tat  the  same  time  traveling  and  preaching  at  his  own  expense. 

He  first  came  into  contact  with  the  powers  of  the  church 
through  a  concerted  effort  of  elders  to  deprive  brethren  of  the 
privilege  of  wearing  a  full  beard. 

About  the  year  1875  he  was  requested  by  the  brethren  of  Floyd 
County,  Virginia,  to  conduct  a  religious  discussion  with  the 
Lutherans,  who  had  been  preaching  against  Tunker  peculiarities. 
He  went ;  but  instead  of  entering  into  a  debate,  he  prevailed  upon 
the  brethren  to  hold  a  revival  meeting.  The  meeting  was  held  at 
Hylton's  schoolhouse  in  January.  The  senior  elder  opposed  the 
meeting,  and  would  not  attend.  Each  evening  the  house  was 
packed,  and  soon  the  sectarian  feeling  which  the  controversy  had 
engendered  had  entirely  vanished,  and  instead  a  deep  religious 
fervor  had  obtained.  After  six  meetings  had  been  held,  an  invi- 
tation was  extended,  and  one  young  man  left  his  seat  and  came 
forward  weeping.  Others  followed,  and  among  them  a  daughter 
of  the  opposing  elder  and  a  son  of  the  associate  elder,  who  was 
present  and  assisted  in  the  work.  By  this  time  the  large  congre- 
gation was  in  a  state  of  uncontrollable  emotion.  The  result  of  the 
meeting  was  the  baptism  of  twelve  men  and  women,  most  of  them 
the  children  of  ministers  and  deacons.  In  referring  to  this  cir- 
cumstance, Brother  Moomaw  says :  "This  was  the  most  thrilling 
experience  of  my  ministerial  career.  It  was  the  first  meeting  of 
the  kind  that  had  ever  been  held  in  Virginia,  and  the  first  public 
invitation  to  converts.  From  that  day  opposition  to  revivals 
practically  ceased  in  Virginia." 

Brother  Moomaw  has  been  a  valuable  contributor  to  the  cur- 
rent literature  of  the  church.  His  articles  are  in  evidence  in  all 
the  leading  periodicals  of  the  denomination. 

He  also  took  an  active  part  in  all  the  educational  movements  of 
the  denomination,  and  was  a  leading  factor  in  the  establishment 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  J°5 

of  Bridgewater  College,  Virginia.  His  connection  with  that 
institution  afterwards  cost  him  his  membership  in  the  German 
Baptist  Church.     It  all  occurred  through  the  unsavory  Professor 

E.  A.  Miller  case.  On  a  certain  occasion  while  Brother  Moomaw 
was  visiting  a  son  and  daughter,,  who  were  attending  the  school, 
he  heard  intimations  of  Professor  Miller's  misconduct.  He  at 
once  proceeded  to  make  minute  investigation,  which  assured  him 
that  the  moral  and  social  welfare  of  the  college  required  the 
removal  of  Professor  ^filler.  He  took  his  children  home,  and  at 
once  proceeded  to  carry  out  his  convictions  in  regard  to  the  presi- 
dent. The  result  was  that  Miller  was  not  only  removed  from  the 
school,  but  was  expelled  from  the  church  for  open  and  gross 
immorality.  However,  Miller  had  his  side  and  his  friends,  and 
he  was  as  cunning  as  deceitful.  He  stood  in  with  the  elders, 
put  on  the  whole  armor  of  church  influence  according  to  the 
established  order,  and  took  a  seat  among  the  prophets.  An  annual 
meeting  committee  was  sent  to  the  church  to  dispose  of  the  trouble. 
The  committee,  instead  of  trying  Professor  Miller,  recommended 
the  expulsion  from  the  church,  within  sixty  days,  unless  suitable 
confession  was  made,  of  both  D.  C.  Moomaw  and  his  father,  B. 

F.  Moomaw,  on  a  charge  of  railing  and  slander.  The  charge  was 
founded  on  the  reference  to  Professor  Miller  as  a  libertine  and 
debauchee ;  Brother  D.  C.  Moomaw  could  not  make  the  required 
acknowledgment,  and  so  remained  outside  ;  Elder  Benjamin  would 
not  do  so,  and  exhibited  his  superior  generalship  by  compelling 
the  succeeding  annual  meeting  to  revoke  the  decision  and  restore 
him  to  his  place  without  the  exposure  of  a  trial. 

A  short  time  after  Professor  Miller's  trouble  at  the  Bridgewater 
College,  he  became  the  principal  of  Lordsburg  College,  California. 
He  was  also  prominent  in  the  councils  of  the  church.  About  six 
months  after  his  installation  as  president  of  the  Lordsburg  Col- 
lege, his  Bridgewater  career  was  repeated. 

The  intimacy  was  continued  for  about  six  years.     In  1898  the 

partner  of  his  crime,  a  member  of  the  German  Baptist  Church, 

became  conscience-smitten,  and  made  an  open  confession  before 

the  church.     The  whole  scandal  was  published  in  the  daily  papers 

45 


yo6  HISTORY  OF   THE   TUNKERS. 

of  Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco,  and  illustrated  with  portraits 
of  Miller  and  his  victim.  It  was  one  of  the  most  humiliating 
exposures  of  the  Tunkers  in  the  history  of  the  denomination. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  of  his  guilt. 

Brother  Moomaw  regarded  this  last  act  in  the  drama  such  a 
complete  vindication  of  himself  and  his  cause  that  he  presented  an 
appeal  to  the  annual  meeting  of  1899,  ne^  in  his  own  city,  Roa- 
noke, Virginia,  asking  a  revocation  of  his  expulsion  by  the  Bridge- 
water  committee,  on  the  ground  of  absolute  proof  of  Miller's  guilt, 
furnished  by  the  disclosures  at  Lordsburg ;  but  the  standing  com- 
mittee replied  that  they  did  not  have  the  power  to  remove  the 
censure  of  expulsion.  The  annual  meeting  must  have  lost  that 
power  immediately  after  the  restoration  of  Elder  Benjamin  F. 
Moomaw. 

In  December,  1892,  Brother  D.  C.  Moomaw  and  about  twenty 
others  joined  in  an  organization  of  a  Brethren  Church  in  the  city 
of  Roanoke,  Virginia,  Elder  E.  B.  Shaver  officiating. 

He  at  once  entered  upon  an  active  ministerial  career.  There 
were  at  that  time  only  about  thirty  members  in  southwestern  Vir- 
ginia. There  are  at  this  time  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  mem- 
bers, in  eleven  congregations,  in  charge  of  thirteen  ministers,  and 
a  good  district  organization. 

Elder  Moomaw  is  a  strong  believer  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  and 
never  undertakes  any  important  work  without  first  taking  it  to  the 
Lord  in  prayer.  In  his  estimation  no  domestic  establishment  can 
be  prosperous  or  happy  unless  husband  and  wife  fear  the  Lord. 

When  he  found  it  desirable  to  enter  into  the  intimate  domestic 
relation,  he  especially  sought  divine  direction,  because  he  had 
learned  that  "a  prudent  wife  is  from  the  Lord/'  Proverbs  19  114. 
And  his  continued  life  of  marital  felicity  is  regarded  by  him  an 
undoubted  testimony  to  the  faithfulness  of  God  in  giving  to  those 
who  ask  above  all  we  can  ask  or  think.     (Portrait  No.  144.) 

DANIEL    MILLER. 

Daniel  Miller  was  born  December  13,  18 19,  at  Paris,  Stark 
County,  Ohio.     This  was  the  place  where  Brother  Henry  Kurtz 


Wdterlo.QsJovra. 

GROUP   17- 


708  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

established  his  first  printing  office,  and  printed  German  spelling- 
books,  and  other  small  books  and  tracts ;  and  Daniel  used  to  visit 
the  office  when  a  boy.  His  father's  name  was  Jacob  Miller,  who 
was  bom  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  a  Tunker 
preacher.  His  grandfather's  name  was  Michael  Miller,  who  was 
also  a  minister  of  the  same  denomination,  and  was  probably  the 
first  Tunker  preacher  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  having  located  in  the 
vicinity  of  Paris,  Stark  County,  previous  to  1808. 

Daniel  Miller  joined  the  Tunkers  about  1867,  and  was  elected 
deacon  in  1875.  He  was  expelled  from  the  church  in  the  year 
1883,  and  soon  after  he  and  eleven  other  members  formed  an 
organization  of  the  Brethren  Church,  at  Milford,  Indiana.  The 
following  are  the  charter  members  of  their  church :  John  Dubbs 
and  wife,  George  Dubbs  and  wife,  Jacob  Schrock  and  wife,  Daniel 

Thorn  and  wife,  Deeter  and  wife,  Daniel  Miller  and  wife. 

Brother  John  Nicholson  presided  at  the  organization.  Brother 
Miller  relates  his  own  experience  in  the  following  lucid  manner : — 
"I  was  raised  a  Tunker  in  the  strictest  sense.  My  father  was 
a  preacher  of  that  faith,  and  moved  in  the  established  order.  I 
was  brought  up  'in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.' 
In  my  youth  I  could  comprehend  nothing  of  a  religious  nature 
except  goodness  and  the  holy  garment.  Goodness  remains  a  prize 
of  the  high  calling  to  the  present  time ;  but  as  I  grew  older,  and 
could  read  and  think  for  myself,  the  garment  and  order  got  old, 
too,  and  the  longer  the  worse.  Once  a  sister  spoke  to  my  father 
in  my  presence,  saying,  Why  are  brethren  allowed  to  preach  who 
do  not  wear  beards  ?'  He  studied  a  while,  and  then  said,  'Well, 
there  is  no  scripture  for  it.'  This  assertion  confounded  my 
espoused  belief  somewhat.  A  man  of  himself  knows  nothing.  If 
he  learns  an  error,  he  must  first  learn  the  error  before  he  knows 
what  is  not  error. 

"Eventually  I  became  a  member.  The  manner  of  receiving 
members  is  known  to  all  of  that  persuasion  ;  but  those  not  familiar 
with  their  order  must  be  told,  so  that  their  candidates  are  informed 
what  the  order  is,  and  if  the  candidate  will  not  agree  to  abide  by 
the  order,  he  is  not  baptized.     In  my  own  case  I  replied  that  I 


•       BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  709 

thought  there  was  nothing  in  the  clothes  regulation;  and  as  I 
never  was  of  a  dressy  nature,  a  deacon  answered  that  he  knew  me, 
and  I  never  wore  clothes  that  they  could  not  bear  with.  This 
gave  satisfaction. 

"Later  I  was  elected  a  deacon.  Now  the  work  commenced. 
Our  good  old  elder  seemingly  had  an  idea  that  I  was  his  right- 
hand  man,  and  several  times  told  me  so  since  my  decapitation. 
He  had  me  at  work  whenever  there  was  work  to  do,  and  had 
the  others  pair  off  with  me.  I  did  not  desire  the  office,  but  in 
that  fraternity  a  person's  wish  can  do  little  for  him  if  an  office  is 
imposed  on  him. 

"I  always  was  a  politician,  and  those  of  the  opposite  party  pur- 
posely, to  all  appearance,  threw  themselves  in  my  way.  I  was 
once  elected  township  trustee,  and  made  a  narrow  escape  of  the 
ecclesiastical  scalpel. 

"While  H.  R.  Holsinger  was  editing  his  first  paper,  I  took 
occasion  to  write  an  article  in  opposition  to  annual  meeting  on  the 
subject  of  a  brother  serving  as  a  member  of  the  legislature.  This 
was,  perhaps,  the  first  article  published  in  any  paper  edited  in  the 
interest  of  that  church  in  opposition  to  annual  meeting.  I  had 
but  little  faith  of  ever  seeing  my  composition  in  print,  not  know- 
ing Brother  Holsinger  then.  But  the  article  was  published, 
and  soon  a  reply  came  from  some  one,  and  next  a  counter  reply. 
It  seemed  as  though  an  interesting  time  was  at  hand  ;  but  in  a  week 
or  two  the  office  of  Holsinger  was  bought.  Just  why  this  took 
place  at  this  particular  time  can  be  explained  only  upon  the  theory 
that  somebody  thought  he  could  stop  an  earthquake  after  hearing- 
the  rumbling  thereof  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  by  the  little  trans- 
action of  buying  out  a  printing  press. 

"In  our  home  church  from  this  time  partisans  and  formalists 
united.  Church  meetings  were  the  order  of  the  day ;  and  with 
bowed  heads  in  sorrow  we  would  trend  our  way  to  these  council 
meetings,  knowing  that  somebody  had  to  be  defended,  which  was 
not  always  pleasant  to  do.  At  the  Milford  annual  meeting,  in 
1882,  I  prepared  items  for  the  daily  Northern  Indianan.  The 
editor  did  not  know  what  the  trouble  was  in  the  brotherhood,  but 


7IO  HISTORY   OF   THE   TUNKERS. 

seeing  the  work  of  the  meeting,  made  inquiry,  'What  is  the  mat- 
ter with  the  Dunkard  Church?'  I  then  told  him  that  I  would 
write  up  an  account  in  the  near  future.  I  wrote,  as  I  thought,  as 
impartially  as  it  was  possible  to  do  justice  all  around.  It  came 
out  in  print  on  the  8th  and  13th  of  July,  1882.  At  a  council  after 
the  yearly  visit,  R.  H.  Miller,  with  others  from  different  local 
churches,  came  with  a  complaint  against  me  for  writing  the  com- 
munication referred  to  above.  To  all  appearance  R.  H.  Miller 
came  as  the  prosecutor  at  the  request  of  those  interested  in  my 
humiliation.  Just  what  the  special  charge  was  is  not  well  estab- 
lished, or  the  wrong  pointed  out.  R.  H.  Miller  said  it  was  writing 
that  communication.  I  took  it  to  the  complainant  and  asked  him 
what  he  found  in  it  out  of  the  way.  He  replied  that  my  statement, 
'The  clothes  question  was  all  there  was,'  was  not  correct,  as  there 
were  other  things  besides  the  clothes  question. 

"One  day's  trial,  and  the  verdict  came  to  that  servant  who  had 
done  much  service  for  the  elect,  'You  must  make  an  acknowledg- 
ment.' Whatever  this  meant,  the  acknowledgment  was  not  made. 
All  these  church  meetings  were  put  upon  record  in  the  church 
book,  but  I  have  no  access  to  them  so  as  to  give  dates ;  but  at  least 
five  different  church  meetings  were  held  in  which  this  case  was 
involved.  Once  a  committee  was  called,  and  R.  H.  Miller  pre- 
sented the  charge  that  I  had  exposed  the  brotherhood  to  the  world. 
To  this  I  plead  guilty.  The  result  of  these  church  meetings  is 
not  accepted  by  the  undersigned  as  a  token  of  love,  but  rather  of 
despotism.  I  was  not  expelled  by  a  majority  of  the  members 
present  (my  relatives  were  forbidden  to  vote),  and  the  vote  as 
counted  was  so  close  that  a  single  member  could  have  changed  the 
result.  A  majority  of  two  decided  against  me.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  the  German  Baptists  would  allow  this  to  become  a  prec- 
edent. Daniel  Miller." 

(Portrait  No.  101.) 

EDWARD  S.   MILLER. 

Edward  S.  Miller  was  born  in  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania, 
November  22,  1832.     He  was  the  oldest  son  of  Elder  Jacob  D. 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL. 


711 


Miller.  He  was  married  February  23,  1859,  to  Mary  Catharine 
Brewer,  of  Maryland. 

Brother  Edward  was  called  to  the  ministry  when  quite  young, 
and  improved  his  first  years  in  that  calling  in  Somerset  County, 
among  the  companions  of  his  youth,  and  his  father's  as  well,  and 
we  loved  to  hear  him  relate  his  early  experience  among  the  old 
brethren,  who  then  appeared  to  delight  in  their  young  helper. 

About  the  first  six  years  of  their  married  life  they  resided  at 
Somerset,  Pennsylvania.  Then  they  moved  to  Hagerstown, 
Maryland,  where  he  lived  twenty  years,  and  spent  the  strength  of 


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his  life  preaching  for  nothing  and  selling  sewing  machines  and 
musical  instruments  for  a  livelihood.  In  November,  1884,  he 
removed  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  where  he  resided  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  and  was  pastor  of  the  Bear  Creek  church  during  the  first 
year.  He  attended  the  Dayton  convention.  His  photograph  is 
in  the  group  of  ministers  taken  at  that  place,  and  he  was  the  first 
to  break  the  circle  by  death. 

Brother  Miller  was  an  earnest,  intelligent,  conscientious  Chris- 
tian gentleman,  a  devoted  husband  and  father,  an  interesting  and 
entertaining  companion,  and  a  good  neighbor.  As  a  minister  he 
was  plain  and  practical,  aiming  to  teach  rather  than  to  entertain, 
but  he  appeared  timid  and  reserved.  He  was  a  good  writer,  and 
a  zealous  advocate  of  progression  in  the  Christian  life  and  expe- 


712  HISTORY    OF    THE   TUNKERS. 

rience.  He  was  chaste  in  his  language,  and  especially  neat  in  all 
his  personal  habits ;  was  opposed  to  the  use  of  tobacco  and  intoxi- 
cants, war,  intemperance,  and  secret  societies. 

Brother  Miller  died  June  i,  1887,  aged  fifty-four  years  six 
months  and  twelve  days.     (Portrait  No.  197.) 

WILLIAM  HENRY  MILLER. 

William  Henry  Miller  was  born  near  Rossville,  Indiana,  August 
13,  1870.  He  is  of  Pennsylvania  Dutch  descent,  his  father  and 
mother  both  coming  to  Indiana  from  Pennsylvania.  He  attended 
district  school  during  winter,  and  his  summers  were  spent  work- 
ing on  a  farm.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  graduated  from  district 
schools,  then  spent  three  years  in  a  graded  school  and  part  of 
the  following  year  in  state  normal,  at  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  and 
afterward  taught  four  years  in  district  schools.  In  the  fall  of 
1894  he  went  to  Ashland,  and  spent  two  years  in  Ashland  College. 
He  spent  the  school  year  of  1896-97  in  schools  at  North  Man- 
chester, Indiana,  and  Hillsdale,  Michigan.  He  was  received  into 
the  Mount  Pleasant  Brethren  Church  by  baptism,  September  9, 
1892,  during  a  meeting  held  by  J.  D.  McFaden.  He  was  elected 
to  the  ministry  February  4,  1893,  by  the  same  congregation,  and 
was  ordained  by  Elder  J.  H.  Swihart,  February  19,  1893.  His 
first  church  work  was  to  supply,  and  preach  as  opportunity 
afforded.  In  this  way  he  visited  a  number  of  places,  and  supplied 
a  month  in  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 

In  the  fall  of  1896  he  supplied  Brighton,  Indiana,  and  served 
as  pastor  in  1897.  The  years  1898  and  1899  were  devoted  to  Cor- 
inth, New  Troy,  and  Campbell,  Michigan.  He  served  the 
Corinth  and  Chapel  churches,  Indiana,  and  New  Troy,  Michigan, 
during  the  year  1900.  He  is  secretary  of  Indiana  state  confer- 
ence, being  elected  three  successive  times,  and  is  also  secretary 
of  Indiana  mission  board.  He  does  not  report  a  great  number  of 
accessions,  as  he  has  always  had  churches  which  were  in  trouble 
or  spiritually  at  a  low  tide.  So  his  work  has  been  more  in  the 
line  of  setting  things  in  order,  straightening  difficulties,  overcom- 
ing previous  errors  and  blunders,  than  in  evangelizing.  (Por- 
traits 94,  135.) 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL. 


7J3 


HENRY     MURR. 

Henry  Murr  was  born  February  17,  1859,  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  He 
was  brought  up  by  old-fashioned  Tunkers,  but  not  baptized  into 
the  church  until  after  the  Dayton  convention,  1883.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1883,  the  church  at  Bear  Creek,  near  Dayton,  called  him  to 
the  ministry.  Business  affairs  have  kept  him  from  taking  an 
active  part  in  the  high  office  to  which  the  church  called  him.     He 


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GROUP   19 


is  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  Bible-alone  doctrine,  and  opposed  to 
any  and  all  innovations  tending  to  weaken  the  cause.      (Portrait 

No.  245.) 

JOHN  A."  MYERS. 

John  A.  Myers  was  born  in  Augusta  County,  Virginia,  Novem- 
ber 7,  1850.  His  parents  were  Christian  and  Catharine  Myers. 
In  1855  they  moved  to  Iowa,  and  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  Millers- 
burg.  His  parents  were  faithful  members  of  the  German  Baptist 
Church,  and  John  grew  up  in  the  same  faith,  and  united  with  the 
church  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  The  troubles  in  his  home 
congregation  caused  him  to  study  carefully  her  method  of  church 
government. 

He  spent  the  years  1873  and  1874  in  traveling,  during  which  he 
met  I.  P.  Gibson,  of  the  Congregational  Brethren,  and  fell  in  with 
their  views. 


714  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

He  spent  the  following  winter  in  the  mountains  of  Colorado, 
where  he  secured  a  copy  of  the  history  of  the  Great  Reformation 
in  Europe,  by  D'Aubigne,  and  made  it  his  study,  and  adopted  its 
principles  of  reformation.  He  spent  the  winter  of  1875  in  Vir- 
ginia, carrying  his  favored  book  with  him.  His  outsponken  man- 
ner of  expressing  his  opinion  caused  him  many  times  to  be  mis- 
understood. 

After  spending  five  years  in  the  German  Baptist  Church,  and 
attending  numerous  council  meetings,  Myers  became  fully  con- 
vinced that  the  Lord's  work  could  be  best  accomplished  through 
a  reform  movement.  Accordingly  Brother  J.  H.  Swihart  was 
sent  for,  who  came  in  October,  1880,  and  held  a  protracted  meet- 
ing. An  organization  of  the  Congregational  Brethren  was 
effected  November  8,  1880,  in  which  Myers  and  all  his  former 
brethren  and  sisters  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  except  one 
family,  united,  in  all  sixteen  members.  On  the  same  day  Myers 
was  elected  to  the  ministry,  and  from  that  time  has  had  charge  of 
the  church,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  months,  when  he  was 
pastor  in  Appanoose  County,  Iowa. 

On  May  27,  1880,  he  and  Annie  V.  Stoner,  daughter  of  Eman- 
uel Stoner,  of  Westminster,  Maryland,  were  married. 

In  his  church  work  Myers  is  lenient  and  forbearing,  striving 
to  restore  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  and  this  administration  has 
developed  a  peaceable  church.      (Portraits   51,  329.) 

JONATHAN   MYERS,  SR.,  FRANKLIN   MEYERS,  JONATHAN   MYERS,  JR. 

Jonathan  Myers  moved  from  Maryland  to  Kentucky  in  1795, 
and  settled  near  Lexington.  Afterward  he  lived  at  Frankfort, 
Danville,  and  Lebanon.  He  was  in  the  ministry  when  he  left 
Maryland,  was  soon  advanced,  and  in  due  time  ordained  an  elder, 
which  office  he  held  until  he  died,  in  1861. 

Some  of  his  associates  in  the  ministry  in  Kentucky  were  the 
Bowmans,  Homers,  and  others  of  that  day.  He  often  spoke 
of  the  trouble  they  had  in  the  church,  when  some  of  the  Bow- 
mans  and  others  left  and  joined  in  with  Alexander  Campbell; 
also  of  that  trouble  with  the  Homers  and  others  who  left  the 


GROUP    20 


716  HISTORY   OF   THE   TUNKERS. 

church  and  afterwards  were  called  "Hornerites."  Elder  Myers 
remained  firm  with  the  old  church,  but  owing  to  troubles  became 
discouraged,  and  in  1824  moved  to  Putnam  County,  Indiana,  and 
settled  five  miles  north  of  Greencastle.  Here  he  met  quite  a 
number  of  brethren,  who  had  just  come  to  this  new  country  from 
Roanoke,  Bonsacks,  and  other  places  in  Virginia.  Among  them 
were  the  Guilhams,  Smiths,  Millers,  and  others.  They  soon 
organized  a  church  near  Forsher's  Mill,  on  Kamp  Creek.  They 
also  organized  a  church  at  Cornstock,  four  miles  south  of  Ladoga, 
Montgomery  County-  Among  the  prominent  families  of  this 
church  were  the  Harshbergers,  Brits,  Stuvers,  and  others,  who 
came  from  Bonsacks,  Virginia.  Elder  Myers  five  or  six  years 
later  moved  to  Boon  County,  and  later  in  life  to  the  White  River 
country,  south  of  Indianapolis,  where  he  died. 

His  son,  Francis  Myers,  was  born  near  Lebanon,  Kentucky,  in 
1806.  In  his  fourteenth  year  he  joined  the  church.  In  his 
eighteenth  year  he  was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  soon  afterward 
went  with  his  parents  to  Putnam  County,  Indiana.  Here  he  took 
an  active  part  with  his  father  in  establishing  the  church  in  Put- 
nam, Park,  and  Montgomery  Counties.  Elder  Jacob  Garber,  from 
Pennsylvania,  and  Elder  Daniel  Miller,  from  Virginia,  moved 
into  the  church  at  an  early  date. 

Francis  Myers  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  Ladoga  from  1842 
to  1846.  During  this  time  Robert  Miller,  then  a  young  man, 
came  out  from  Kentucky  and  taught  school  in  the  school  district 
at  Cornstalk,  and  married  Samuel  Harshbergers  oldest  daughter, 
Sarah.  They  joined  the  church,  and  Robert  was  called  to  the 
ministry. 

Brethren  Miller  and  Myers  worked  together  in  the  ministry 
until  the  latter  moved  to  Iowa,  in  1851.  He  settled  three  miles 
south  of  Eddyville,  and  for  a  time  was  alone  in  the  ministry.  He 
soon  organized  the  Monroe  County  church,  and  in  the  course  of 
two  years  baptized  more  than  one  hundred  persons,  and  received 
quite  a  number  by  letter  from  Indiana.  In  1853  and  1854  quite 
a  number  of  brethren  moved  from  Ohio,  and  joined  the  church  by 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  7 17 

letter.  Among  these  were  two  ministers, — Daniel  Miller  and 
John  Hansel.  This  was  the  beginning  of  trouble.  Many  sin- 
cerely wish  that  the  history  of  the  Monroe  County  church  from 
1854  to  1859  were  a  blank;  that  the  memory  of  things  seen,  felt, 
and  known  to  be  true,  might  be  forever  blotted  out.  Old  men 
bowed  their  heads  low,  and  young  men  and  women,  who  were 
robust  and  strong,  wept  like  children  when  they  felt  the  iron  hand 
of  tyrannical  committees  and  elders  crushing  their  fondest  hopes 
of  serving  the  Lord  as  free  men  and  women. 

Francis  Myers  was  in  early  life  advanced  to  the  second  degree 
in  the  ministry,  and  in  due  time  ordained  an  elder.  He  traveled 
and  preached  for  many  years  in  western  Illinois  and  Iowa. 

In  1863  he  crossed  the  plains  to  California,  and  did  much  of  the 
preaching  at  the  camp-meeting  in  Shepard's  Grove,  below  the 
bridge,  north  side  of  the  river.  At  the  close  of  this  meeting  he 
baptized  sixteen  persons.  He  continued  to  preach  for  Elder 
George  Wolfe  until  December.  Then  he  returned  to  his  home  in 
Iowa,  where  he  continued  in  the  ministry  until  he  died,  in  1866. 

Jonathan  Myers,  Jr.,  was  born  January  10,  1833,  in  Putnam 
County,  Indiana,  and  with  his  parents  moved  to  Iowa,  in  185 1. 
He  was  married  in  1856.  In  1857  his  wife  and  he  joined  the 
church,  and  were  baptized  in  the  Des  Moines  River  by  his  father. 

April  3,  1859,  they,  with  many  friends,  started  across  the  plains 
to  make  their  home  in  California.  They  had  a  pleasant  trip,  and 
arrived  at  Sacramento  October  3,  being  five  months  on  the  road. 

In  November  he  went  to  Gilroy,  to  visit  Elder  George  Wolfe, 
who  had  come  to  the  coast  two  years  earlier  and  settled  there. 
He  returned  and  located  near  Lathrop.  Two  years  later  Elder 
George  Wolfe  moved  and  settled  two  miles  south  of  Lathrop. 
They  soon  arranged  to  hold  meetings,  and  the  next  year  organ- 
ized what  is  now  called  the  Lathrop  Church.  At  the  camp- 
meeting  in  1863  he  was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  two  years  later 
was  advanced  to  the  second  degree.  In  1869  he  was  ordained  to 
the  eldership,  and  served  the  church  jointly  with  Elder  George 
Wolfe. 

Elder  Myers  labored  in  the  ministry  at  almost  every  point  in 


JlS  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

California  in  which  the  Tunkers  have  preached.  At  various 
places  and  times  he  baptized  and  took  into  the  church  more  than 
one  hundred  members,  many  of  whom  are  now  in  the  spirit  world. 

Brother  John  Noe,  whom  Francis  Myers  baptized  near  Eddy- 
ville,  Iowa,  moved  to  California  in  1865,  and  settled  near  Salmon 
Creek,  Humboldt  County.  In  1879  he  wrote  for  some  one  to 
come  and  hold  a  protracted  meeting.  Brother  Jonathan  and  his 
wife  started  from  their  home  in  Oakland,  October  22,  1879,  and 
soon  began  a  protracted  meeting  at  Salmon  Creek,  near  where 
Brother  Noe  lived.  He  preached  steadily  at  this  place  and  Port 
Keynon  for  five  weeks.  During  this  time  he  baptized  sixteen 
persons,  and  found  two  members,  J.  W.  Croley  and  wife.  This 
gave  them  nineteen  members.  He  organized  them  into  a  church 
and  held  communion  with  them  before  they  returned.  Twenty- 
one  partook  at  this  blessed  feast. 

On  August  15,  1880,  he,  with  S.  H.  Bashor,  went  to  Humboldt 
to  attend  a  camp-meeting.  Brother  Bashor  did  most  of  the 
preaching  for  eight  days.  At  the  close  of  this  meeting  Brother 
Myers  baptized  twelve.  From  here  Bashor  went  to  Springville, 
and  preached  a  week  and  baptized  four.  Brother  Myers  went  to 
Salmon  Creek,  and  held  a  week's  meeting  and  baptized  seven. 
Brethren  John  W.  Crowley  and  John  Carney  were  called  to  the 
ministry.  They  preached  for  two  years,  and  also  baptized  several 
converts. 

Brother  Myers  went  a  third  trip  to  Humboldt  County,  accom- 
panied by  Elder  Stephen  Broadhurst.  The  object  of  this  trip 
was  to  adjust  trouble  among  members  there.  The  mission  was 
successful,  but  soon  the  Sister  Carney  trouble  came  up,  which  was 
the  cause  of  the  final  breaking  up  of  the  church  in  Humboldt. 

Brother  Myers  went  a  fourth  time,  and  remained  nearly  two 
years.  Sickness  in  his  family  caused  him  to  leave  and  go  to  San 
Diego.  The  church  then  became  discouraged ;  some  members 
moved  to  Oregon,  others  to  Red  Bluff,  California,  some  to  south- 
ern California,  some  to  Calaveras  County ;  quite  a  number  died ; 
a  few  went  back  to  the  world,  and  there  are  some  members  yet 
in  Humboldt.  Brother  Jonathan  baptized  in  Humboldt  County 
thirty-six  persons. 


720  HISTORY    OF    THE   TUNKERS. 

Elder  Jonathan  Myers  is  now  located  in  Pasadena,  and  engaged 
in  business.  His  son  Charles  was  also  called  to  the  ministry,  but 
is  pursuing  a  course  of  secular  and  scientific  research.  Brother 
Jonathan's  wife  was  an  invalid  for  many  years,  and  died  in  1898. 
His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Guilliam,  and  she  belonged  to  the 
early  family  of  Tunkers  of  Virginia.      (Portrait  No.  323.) 

JOHN  NICHOLSON. 

John  Nicholson  was  born  in  Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania, 
May  15,  1824.  His  father  was  an  elder  in  the  German  Baptist 
Church  for  thirty-five  years.  It  may,  therefore,  be  said  that  John 
was  born  a  Tunker,  and  brought  up  at  the  feet  of  a  Tunker 
bishop.  He  was  married  to  Miss  C.  L.  Pullen,  of  New  York, 
April  1,  1849.  He  was  installed  in  the  ministry  in  October,  1853, 
by  Elder  Jacob  Hauger.  His  first  charge  was  a  congregation  in 
Westmoreland  and  Fayette  Counties,  Pennsylvania,  in  which  he 
continued  until  1864.  He  then  became  pastor  of  a  church  located 
in  Columbiana  and  Stark  Counties,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  six 
years.  He  next  served  in  Tuscarawas  and  Holmes  Counties  four 
years.  Then  he  moved  to  Knox  County,  and  engaged  in  a  saw- 
milling  business  with  Isaac  Ross  at  Rossville,  and  traveled  in 
the  home  mission  work.  His  next  charge  was  Bristolville,  Trum- 
bull County.  While  laboring  there,  he  was  called  to  Amwell 
Church,  New  Jersey,  as  a  home  missionary,  where  he  served  about 
two  years  ;  thence  to  Black  Hawk  County,  Iowa,  in  1883.  During 
his  services  at  that  place  the  general  division  in  the  fraternity 
occurred,  and  Brother  Nicholson  fell  in  as  a  progressive,  and 
became  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  Brethren  Church  of 
forty-eight  members,  organized  in  1884.  During  the  same  year 
he  presided  at  the  organization  of  Brethren  Churches  at  Aurelia, 
Brooklyn,  Rinebeck,  Elkport,  and  Dallas  Center,  Iowa ;  Mil- 
ford  and  North  Manchester,  Indiana ;  Beatrice,  Holmesville,  and 
Pickrell,  Nebraska.  He  preached  one  year  (1888)  at  Pony 
Creek,  Kansas,  and  afterward  served  the  mission  board  along  the 
Missouri  River. 

In  October,  1893,  he  moved  to  Rosena,  California,  and  joined 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  721 

in  the  organization  of  a  Brethren  Church  in  December  of  the  same 
year,  of  which  he  is  still  pastor. 

Brother  Nicholson  has  probably  preached  as  many  sermons, 
and  was  instrumental  in  as  many  conversions,  as  any  man  of  his 
age  in  the  fraternity.  He  had  as  many  as  forty-two  converts  at 
one  meeting.     (Portrait  No.  40.) 

A.   P.   REED. 

Albert  Price  Reed  was  born  March  20,  1862,  in  Highland 
County,  Ohio.  His  father  was  a  well-to-do  farmer,  and  was 
known  the  country  round  as  a  man  of  upright  character  and  strict 
integrity.  The  mother  was  hard  working,  and  much  devoted  to 
her  children.  Both  parents  were  consistent  members  of  the  Ger- 
man Baptist  Church.  Albert  Price  attended  the  district  school 
from  the  age  of  six  till  he  was  seventeen,  from  six  months  to 
eight  or  nine  each  year.  Between  terms  he  helped  on  the  farm. 
The  year  he  was  seventeen  his  father  sent  him  to  Hillsboro,  to 
the  high  school,  for  three  months.  He  attended  the  same  school 
the  following  school  year  of  ten  months.  During  the  winter  of 
1880-81,  he  taught  a  six-months  school  near  Bainbridge,  Ross 
County,  Ohio.  During  the  next  school  year,  1881-82,  for  seven 
months  he  attended  Ashland  College.  This  was  the  amount  of 
his  schooling.  Returning  home  he  taught  in  the  country  schools 
of  Highland  and  Adams  Counties  for  twelve  years.  ' 

At  Ashland  College  he  met  Miss  Susan  A.  C.  Miller,  author  of 
"The  Doctrine  of  the  Brethren  Defended."  She  became  his  wife 
August  29,  1882.  His  father  gave  him  a  small  place  of  fifty-one 
acres  near  the  old  homestead.  Here  they  began  housekeeping. 
He  farmed  in  the  summer  and  taught  school  in  the  winter.  They 
were  contented  and  happy,  but  sickness  and  sorrow  came.  The 
wife  and  mother  went  home  to  heaven  February  7,  1889.  Brother 
Reed's  mother  and  two  sisters  helped  to  care  for  the  three  children 
left  to  his  care.  On  June  25,  1890,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Arra 
May  Taylor. 

His  parents  were  always  faithful  attendants  at  all  the  services 
at  the  Ridge  church.     Here  the  family  attended  church  and  Sun- 

46 


J22  HISTORY   OF   THE   TUNKERS. 

day-school,  the  prayer-meeting,  and  the  old-time  singing-school. 
The  ministers  of  his  boyhood  were  Mills  Calvert,  John  H.  Gar- 
man,  Landon  West,  Thomas  Major,  his  wife  Sarah  Major,  A.  J. 
Hixson,  and  others.  In  the  autumn  of  1876,  during  a  series  of 
meetings  held  by  Landon  West  and  J.  H.  Garman,  he  united  with 
the  church,  and  his  uncle,  J.  H.  Garman,  baptized  him.  A  weekly 
prayer-meeting  was  started  and  kept  up  regularly  for  several 
years.     Brother  Reed  was  one  of  its  most  earnest  supporters. 

In  the  autumn  of  1886,  he  was  selected  to  the  ministry,  Jesse 
Calvert  officiating  at  the  installation  service.  He  preached  occa- 
sionally at  the  Ridge  church,  May  Hill,  Strait  Creek,  and  Marble 
Furnace  for  several  years.  In  April,  1893,  he  was  advanced  to 
the  second  degree  of  the  ministry.  In  1896  he  sold  his  farm  to 
his  brother-in-law,  and  removed  to  the  Dos  Palos  Colony,  Merced 
County,  California.  In  April,  1898,  he  attended  the  conference 
of  the  Brethren  Church,  at  Lathrop,  California,  and  soon  after 
transferred  his  membership  to  the  Lathrop  Brethren  Church.  He 
soon  after  engaged  in  ministerial  work  at  Vernalis.  On  Septem- 
ber 2,  1898,  near  the  close  of  the  annual  camp-meeting  at  San 
Joaquin  Bridge,  he  was  ordained  as  an  elder,  by  Martin  Shively 
and  J.  W.  Beer.  Soon  after  this  he  took  up  the  work  at  March 
Creek. 

He  preaches  regularly  at  the  two  places  named  above,  and 
occasionally  at  other  points  as  opportunity  offers.  He  is  always 
willing  to  do  anything  in  his  power  to  advance  the  cause  of 
Christ,  and  to  propagate  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the 
Brethren  Church.     (Portrait  No.  25.) 

V.    MILTON    REICHARD. 

V.  Milton  Reichard  was  born  October  17,  1858;  attended  an 
ungraded  country  school  until  he  was  eighteen,  when  he  began 
teaching  school.  He  taught  during  three  winters,  attending  the 
Pennsylvania  State  Normal  School,  at  Millersville,  during  the 
summers  of  1878  and  1879.  He  graduated  in  medicine  at  Jeffer- 
son Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  in  1882;  located  at  Fairplay, 
Maryland,  in  June  of  that  year,  where  he  has   remained  since. 


724  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

He  was  converted  under  the  preaching  of  E.  M.  Jerrold,  and  was 
baptized  by  I.  D.  Bowman,  March  4,  1888.  The  following  month 
he  was  ordained  deacon,  together  with  T.  J.  Fahrney  and  J.  F. 
Mullen.  Within  the  year  he  began  to  talk  in  public,  and  though 
he  has  always  disclaimed  being  a  preacher,  his  friends  insist  on 
calling  him  one.  His  home  congregation  has  frequently  requested 
that  he  accept  ordination,  but  for  reasons  sufficient  to  himself  he 
has  always  declined. 

He  has,  however,  done  some  public  speaking,  having  sustained 
appointments  at  two  or  three  mission  points,  besides  supplying 
for  the  pastor  during  necessary  absence. 

His  chosen  field,  and  the  one  in  which  he  feels  most  at  home, 
is  the  Sunday-school.  He  has  been  a  teacher  since  a  week  after 
his  conversion,  and  has  had  the  management  of  the  same  school 
for  over  ten  years,  and  has  been  superintendent  of  two  schools 
part  of  the  time. 

At  present  he  is  president  of  the  county  Sunday-school  asso- 
ciation. He  takes  great  interest  in  the  annual  Sunday-school 
convention  for  the  county,  and  feels  that  his  special  field  of  work 
is  with  young  men,  with  whom  he  has  special  influence.  (Por- 
trait No.  108.) 

R.    Z.    REPLOGLE. 

R.  Z.  Replogle  was  born  at  New  Enterprise,  Pennsylvania, 
April  24,  1846.  His  father,  David  L.  Replogle,  was  a  son  of 
Rinehart  Replogle.  Rinehart  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  in 
Morrison's  Cove.  He  lived  at  the  head  of  Three  Spring  Run 
from  earliest  recollections  to  his  death,  which  occurred  April, 
1862.  His  wife  was  Elizabeth  Long.  Hence,  David  L.  Rep- 
logle, father  of  R.  Z.,  means  David  Long  Replogle.  David  L., 
father  of  R.  Z.,  was  married  to  Rosannah  Zook,  daughter  of 
Daniel  Zook,  hence  we  have  Rinehart  Zook  Replogle.  The  cus- 
tom of  uniting  family  names  was  almost  universally  practiced  in 
earlier  day  throughout  Morrison's  Cove. 

There  were  eleven  sisters  in  the  Zook  family,  three  of  whom 
were  married  to  Replogles. 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  725 

R.  Z.  Replogle  was  reared  on  the  farm  at  New  Enterprise,  in 
whose  barn  was  held  the  annual  meeting  of  1877,  when  the 
famous  standing  coat  collar  became  prominent,  for  the  lack  of 
which  a  noted  minister  in  the  German  Baptist  Church  was  told 
he  was  not  in  the  order,  and  hence  not  entitled  to  speak.  He 
attended  the  public  schools  until  the  age  of  twenty-one.  He 
never  attended  any  but  public  schools.  He  was  married  October 
15,  1868,  to  Mary  A.  Furry,  daughter  of  Jacob  Furry,  of  New 
Enterprise,  and  granddaughter  of  Elder  Leonard  Furry.  (See 
biography. ) 

He  was  baptized  June  13,  1876,  by  his  grandfather  Furry; 
elected  to  the  ministry  in  the  New  Enterprise  church,  in  1880. 
In  1882  he  held  his  first  protracted  meeting  at  the  Walker  church, 
in  Somerset  County,  Pennsylvania.  He  attended  Arnold's  Grove 
annual  meeting,  in  1882,  for  the  purpose  of  helping  prevent  the 
confirmation  of  Berlin  committee  report.  His  feelings  upon  the 
subject  were  expressed  as  follows:  "If  confirmed,  it  will  rend 
the  church  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific."  Failing  to  accom- 
plish his  purpose,  he  was  one  of  the  movers  to  present  a  memorial 
petition  to  annual  meeting  for  a  compromise,  and  was  one  of  the 
committee  to  draft  the  memorial.  He  manifested  his  zeal  for 
the  cause  of  the  progressive  movement  by  walking  a  few  miles 
to  attend  the  first  called  meeting.  He  attended  the  Ashland  con- 
vention, in  1882,  and  the  Dayton  convention,  in  1883.  He  and 
eleven  others  were  expelled  from  the  German  Baptist  Church  by 
a  committee,  and  a  Brethren  Church  was  organized  at  New 
Enterprise.  He  ministered  to  these  in  part  until  W.  L.  Span- 
ogle  became  pastor.  He  was  pastor  of  the  Johnstown  church 
from  February  1,  1885,  to  August  1,  1886,  a  period  of  eighteen 
months.  After  severing  his  relation  as  pastor  of  said  charge,  he 
held  protracted  meetings  at  Summit  Mills,  Berlin,  and  Stony 
Creek,  and  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia. 

Brother  Replogle  lived  in  Johnstown  at  the  time  of  the  great 
flood,  and  had  a  thrilling  experience  during  that  memorable 
occasion,  an  account  of  which  was  published  in  the  Brethren 
Evangelist,  under  the  title  of  "Johnstown  Flood  Reminiscences." 


726  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

His  house  was  overturned  by  the  flood.  There  were  thirteen 
persons  in  the  house  at  the  time,  namely,  the  two  parents  and 
seven  children,  two  neighbor's  children,  Mrs.  Replogle's  sister 
(Mrs.  Aaron)  and  daughter,  who  were  visitors  at  the  time. 
Mrs.  Aaron  and  her  child  were  drowned,  but  all  the  rest  of  the 
family  were  rescued. 

Although  secularly  engaged,  Brother  Replogle  has  done  a 
great  amount  of  preaching  at  various  places  in  the  brotherhood 
to  general  acceptance.     (Portraits  138,  195,  99.) 

DR.  J.  E.  ROOP. 

Jonas  Engle  Roop  was  born  September  25,  1828,  in  Carrol 
County,  Maryland.  His  parents  were  Pennsylvania  Dutch. 
They  removed  to  Richland  County,  Ohio,  in  1837,  where  Jonas 
grew  to  manhood.  He  and  Miss  Margaret  Allen,  of  Lucas 
County,  Ohio,  were  joined  in  marriage  May  31,  1854. 

He  entered  the  medical  profession  early  in  life,  and  graduated 
at  the  Physio-Medical  Institution  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  February, 
1866.  In  1867  he  was  elected  to  the  chair  of  chemistry,  chemico 
legal  analysis,  loxicology,  and  botany,  in  the  Physio-Medical 
Institute.  Two  years  after,  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  obstet- 
rics and  diseases  of  women.  In  1877  he  located  at  Ashland,  and 
practiced  medicine.  In  1887  he  accepted  the  chair  of  medical  and 
operative  obstetrics  in  the  Chicago  Physio-Medical  College,  which 
he  occupied  until  the  spring  of  1900,  when  he  retired  from  the. 
college  on  account  of  defective  hearing.  He  was  elected 
president  of  the  college  in  1888. 

Brotner  Roop  was  received  into  the  T linker  Church  by  baptism 
in  the  year  1856,  at  the  hands  of  Elder  Peter  Lutz,  in  Keokuk 
County,  Iowa,  and  has  ever  been  a  zealous  defender  of  the  cause, 
taking  an  active  part  in  the  deliberations  of  her  council  meetings. 
He  also  participated  in  the  organization  of  the  Brethren  Church, 
being  present  at  the  meeting  in  schoolhouse  No.  7,  in  1882. 
(Portrait  No.  162.) 


GROUP  23 


728  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

B.  F.  SCHISLER. 

Benjamin  F.  Schisler  was  born  October,  1862.  He  was  bap- 
tized in  1891,  by  Elder  Conrad  Fitz,  of  Astoria,  Illinois.  He 
united  with  the  Brethren  Church  in  1892,  by  Elder  Z.  T.  Liven- 
good.  He  was  educated  at  the  Western  Normal  College,  Bush- 
nell,  Illinois.  He  served  eighteen  years  as  a  teacher  in  the 
public  and  high  schools  of  Illinois.  He  was  ordained  to  the  min- 
istry in  May,  1899,  by  Elder  J.  O.  Talley,  at  Astoria,  Illinois. 
(Portrait  No.  104.) 

LYDIA  SCHULER. 

It  is  the  impression  of  many  elderly  Tunker  people  that  this 
lady  was  a  member  of  the  Tunker  Church,  and  a  contributor  to 
its  literature.  It  will  appear,  however,  from  the  following 
extract  of  a  letter  from  her  own  hand,  dated  La  Crescent,  Minne- 
sota, September  1,  1899,  that  she  was  neither.  We  are  happy  to 
be  able  to  present  this  explanation,  with  a  portrait  of  the  author, 
to  our  readers  : — 

"I  was  born  in  Macungie,  Lehigh  County,  Pennsylvania,  Jan- 
uary 4,  1828.  My  parents,  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  Schuler,  were 
for  a  long  time  the  only  members  of  the  Tunker  Church  in  that 
county.  When  my  oldest  sister  was  twenty-two  years  old,  she 
spent  a  winter  with  a  Tunker  family  in  Montgomery  County, 
Pennsylvania.  There  she  was  baptized  and  joined  the  Tunker 
Church.  A  few  years  later  another  sister  spent  a  winter  in 
Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  with  Elder  Isaac  Price's  family. 
There  she  joined  the  Tunker  Church,  and  was  baptized  by  Elder 
John  H.  Umstad,  in  1847.  My  brother  Moses  was  baptized  at 
our  home  in  Macungie,  by  Elder  Samuel  Harley,  and  taken  into 
the  Tunker  Church  in  1880.  My  youngest  sister  joined  the  same 
church.  One  sister  died  young.  Four  of  the  Schuler  family 
followed  their  parents. 

"I  never  was  a  member  of  the  Tunker  Church.  I  associated 
myself  with  other  Christian  people.  In  1848  I  went  to  Phila- 
delphia, November  3,  185 1.  With  some  friends,  I  embarked  on 
board    the  barque  Emily,  at    Philadelphia,  for  the    Holy  Land. 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL. 


729 


After  sixty-four  days'  voyage  we  arrived  in  the  port  of  Marseilles. 
After  a  stay  of  ten  days,  we  took  passage  on  a  French  sailing 
vessel  going  to   Jaffa,    Virginia  Beirout.     We   arrived   in   Jaffa 


LYDIA  SCHULER   ALLEN 


March  6,  1852.  That  being  the  rainy  season — "the  latter  rain" 
— we  were  obliged  to  remain  two  weeks  in  a  convent,  as  there 
were  no  hotels  there.  When  the  weather  and  roads  were  favor- 
able, we  proceeded  up  the  mountain  to  our  destination,  Bethle- 
hem, on  horseback.  It  took  nearly  two  days  of  about  thirty 
miles  from  Jaffa  to  Bethlehem.     Then  we  rented  some  rooms  to 


730  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

store  our  large  amount  of  goods  we  took  with  us.  Remaining  in 
Bethlehem  a  few  days,  we  went  out  about  a  mile  in  the  Valley  of 
Artas  (Solomon's  Garden),  where  we  pitched  our  tents  to  begin 
our  mission  work. 

"Our  object  was  to  establish  an  agricultural  mission  to  amel- 
iorate the  condition  of  the  poor,  destitute  Jews  in  Jerusalem,  to 
teach  them  manual  labor,  and  get  them  away  from  rabbinical 
power,  under  Christian  influence.  After  two  years  in  Artas,  we 
found  the  place  of  Sharon  a  better  place,  so  we  established  our 
mission  there.  I  never  wrote  for  the  Gospel  Visitor.  My  father 
used  to  send  my  letters  to  have  them  published  in  that  paper. 
That  was  before  my  return  to  America,  being  absent  four  years. 
I  did  lecture  in  different  churches  and  schoolhouses,  but  never  in 
any  of  the  Tunker  Churches.     I  never  preached. 

"On  September  22,  i860,  I  was  married,  in  my  father's  house, 
to  Thomas  K.  Allen,  of  Philadelphia,  Jones  Price,  a  Tunker  elder, 
performing  the  ceremony. 

"In  1861  I  came  to  Minnesota  with  my  husband,  and  have  lived 
most  of  the  time  in  this  state,  in  a  retired  life,  having  family  cares 
and  duties,  though  no  children  now.  The  only  one  we  had  we 
laid  away  in  deep  sadness,  awaiting  the  resurrection,  when  we 
shall  meet  all  our  loved  ones."  (Portrait  No.  27,  German 
Baptist  list.) 

MARTIN  SHIVELY. 

Martin  Shively  was  born  near  Rossville,  Indiana,  July  20,  1863. 
Parents,  David  B.  and  Elizabeth  (Neher)  Shively.  He  was 
married  October  14,  1885,  to  Miss  Katie  Ehresman,  of  Edna 
Mills,  Indiana.  He  was  baptized  by  Elder  J.  H.  Swihart,  June 
27,  1885,  and  united  with  the  Brethren  Church  at  Edna  Mills. 
In  November  of  the  same  year  he  was  elected  to  the  ministry  in 
the  same  congregation,  and  ordained  to  eldership  at  West  Inde- 
pendence, Ohio,  in  February,  1888,  Brother  Swihart  officiating 
on  both  occasions. 

In  February,  1886,  he  began  work  as  a  student  at  Ashland 
College,  under  the  instruction  of  Brother  and  Sister  Perry,  finish- 
ing the  English  course  in  June,  1887. 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  731 

On  July  1,  1887,  he  became  pastor  of  the  church  at  West 
Independence,  Ohio,  dividing  the  time  between  preaching  and 
teaching.  He  served  that  church  almost  four  years,  when  he 
resigned  to  take  charge  of  the  work  in  Williams  County,  Ohio, 
with  Bryan  as  a  place  of 
residence.  He  preached 
regularly  at  Bryan,  Pratt- 
ville,  Hickory  Grove,  Mt. 
Pleasant,  and  Center.  Af- 
ter continuing  the  work 
two  years,  he  accepted  a 
call  to  southern  Ohio, 
where  he  had  regular  ap- 
pointments at  Gratis,  West 
Alexandria,  and  Farmers- 
ville,  for  three  and  one- 
half  years,  when  he  ac- 
cepted an  invitation,  and 
took  charge  of  the  work  in 
California,  preaching  reg- 
ularly at  Lathrop,  East 
Union,  Ripon,  Turlock, 
and  Atwater,  and  doing 
much  other  service.  MARTIN  shively 

Up  to  January  i,  1901,  he  had  preached  two  thousand  two  hun- 
dred sermons,  baptized  two  hundred  and  forty-five  persons, 
organized  two  churches,  ordained  seven  ministers,  preached 
eighty-two  funerals,  and  solemnized  twenty-nine  marriages. 
(Portrait  321.) 

EUGENE    H.    SMITH. 

Eugene  H.  Smith  was  born  in  Venango  County,  Pennsylvania, 
April  6,  1858,  of  German  and  Wrelsh  descent.  His  father  has  a 
deserved  reputation  of  being  a  historian  and  Bible  student.  His 
mother  was  such  in  the  fullest  sense.  Her  education  was  limited, 
and  her  coveted  literary  companion  was  the  old  family  Bible.     He 


732  HISTORY    OF    THE    TINKERS. 

learned  the  carpenter  trade  from  his  father,  which  he  regards  as 
an  accomplishment  as  well  as  an  advantage  to  the  work  in  which 
the  Lord  has  called  him. 

While  building  the  Fairview  church,  in  Bedford  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, he  worked  all  the  week.  On  Saturday  evening  he  drove 
home,  some  eighteen  miles  over  the  hills,  and  retired  near  mid- 
night, without  supper ;  the  next  morning  he  went  twelve  miles  to 
Enterprise,  and  preached  at  10:30  A.  M.,  then  drove  six  miles 
and  preached  at  3  p.  m.,  then  back  home  and  preached  at  8  p.  m. 
On  Monday  morning  he  drove  back  to  where  the  new  church  was 
being  erected,  to  take  the  oversight  of  everything  connected  with 
the  building. 

Besides  the  common  schools  he  attended  the  Greenville  Acad- 
emy and  the  Greenoak  Normal,  and  taught  in  Michigan  and 
Pennsylvania. 

While  on  his  way  from  Greenoak,  he  was  convinced  of  the 
necessity  of  uniting  with  the  Brethren.  He  was  converted  at  a 
Methodist  Episcopal  revival,  and  had  never  been  much  impressed 
with  Brethren  doctrine,  except  by  his  parents  and  in  occasional 
meetings.  He  received  early  religious  impressions  from  the 
ministry  of  J.  W.  Beer,  John  Wise,  and  James  Quinter,  in  the 
old  Cowanshannoc  church,  the  birthplace  of  at  least  a  half -score 
of  preachers. 

On  May  11,  1878,  he  was  baptized,  S.  W.  Wilt  officiating. 
That  same  year  he  went  to  Michigan.  There  he  was  tendered 
the  nomination  of  the  superintendency  of  the  common  schools. 
After  a  residence  of  six  months  as  a  teacher,  during  vacation  and 
shortly  before  election,  his  mother  was  stricken  with  typhoid 
fever,  and  he  returned  home.  In  a  short  time  he  was  taken  with 
the  same  disease.  This  was  the  crisis  in  his  life,  changing  all 
his  plans  for  the  future,  and  brought  him  into  contact  with  the 
work  of  the  church.  Again  he  went  to  the  academy,  where  he 
met  Miss  Mary  M.  Fry,  daughter  of  Elder  Levi  Fry,  of  Indiana, 
Pennsylvania.     They  were  married  on  April  6,  1881. 

He  was  called  to  the  office  of  deacon  December  3,  1881,  and 
installed  as  a  minister  October  23,  1884,  Elders  P.  J.  Brown  and 


734  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

J.  B.  Wampler  officiating.  He  was  among-  the  first  progressive 
ministers  ordained.  This  meant  work,  and,  after  about  sixteen 
years  of  varied  experience  in  different  places  in  Pennsylvania 
and  Maryland,  he  writes  that  he  lacks  only  a  few  of  having 
received  one  thousand  members  into  fellowship  with  the  Brethren 
Church. 

In  the  spring  of  1898  he  received'  a  call  from  the  church  in 
New  Jersey,  and  removed  to  Sergeantsville,  where  he  is  still  in 
charge  of  the  congregation.  He  has  also  assisted  in  building  a 
house  of  worship  in  his  new  charge,  and  keeps  working  in  the 
same  self-denying  manner  as  of  old.       (Portrait  No.  240.) 

JOHN   STERLING. 

John  Sterling  was  born  near  Masontown,  Fayette  County, 
Pennsylvania,  August  12,  1822.  His  father,  also  named  John 
Sterling,  was  born  in  the  same  county.  February  6,  1842,  he  and 
Elizabeth  De  Bolt,  daughter  of  John  and  Charity  Walters  De  Bolt, 
were  married.  He  was  at  the  time  of  marriage  nineteen  years, 
and  his  wife  fifteen  years  of  age.  They  lived  together  on  the 
same  farm  where  they  set  up  housekeeping  for  over  fifty  years, 
and  celebrated  their  golden  wedding  February  6,  1892.  I  am 
indebted  to  a  newspaper  account  of  the  occasion  for  data  of  this 
sketch. 

Brother  Sterling  was  one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of  Fayette 
County.  He  was  a  farmer  and  a  nurseryman,  and  owned  a  large 
tract  of  land,  much  of  which  is  underlaid  with  coal. 

Brother  and  Sister  Sterling  joined  the  German  Baptist  Church 
in  their  youth,  and  were  devoted  Christians.  Being  of  progress- 
ive inclination  and  intelligent  in  mind,  they  naturally  inclined  to 
the  Brethren  movement  in  the  early  stage  of  our  work,  and 
became  the  pillars  of  the  Masontown  Brethren  Church.  Brother 
Sterling  died,  after  a  brief  illness,  at  his  home,  April  29,  1892, 
and  is  buried  close  by  the  Masontown  Brethren  Church,  in  the 
construction  of  which  he  was  largely  instrumental.  He  served 
in  the  office  of  deacon  for  many  years  in  the  German  Baptist 
Church,  and  contributed  liberally  to  every  good  work.  (Por- 
trait No.  335.) 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  735 

MARY   M.    STERLING. 

Mary  Malinda  Sterling  was  born  June  18,  1859,  on  the  Sterling 
homestead,  near  Masontown,  Pennsylvania.  She  was  converted 
during  a  revival  held  by  Jesse  P.  Hetric  at  the  Fairview  church, 
and  was  baptized  December  30,  1871,  by  Joseph  I.  Cover,  in  a 
specially-prepared  pool,  being  the  last  and  youngest  of  seventeen 
converts  baptized  by  trine  immersion  on  the  occasion. 

In  the  fall  of  1878  Sister  Sterling  commenced  teaching  in  the 
public  school,  and  continued  in  that  profession  until  1891.  In  the 
meantime  she  diligently  pursued  a  course  of  study.  In  July, 
1882,  she  graduated  from  Monongahela  College,  Pennsylvania, 
taking  the  degree  of  A.  B.  She  became  a  member  of  the  Breth- 
ren Church  in  the  construction  of  the  Masontown  congregation 
in  1882.  In  1883  and  1884  she  served  in  the  faculty  of  Ashland 
College,  and  was  honored  by  her  alma  mater  with  the  diploma 
bearing  title  of  A.  M.,  dated  June  29,  1887. 

On  April  1 1,  1889,  the  trustees  of  the  S.  S.  C.  E.  of  the  Breth- 
ren Church  appointed  Sister  Sterling  to  preach  the  gospel,  and 
the  Masontown  church,  of  which  Sister  Sterling  has  been  a  mem- 
ber since  its  organization,  unanimously  confirmed  the  appoint- 
ment, May  5,  1889.  She  preached  her  first  sermon  at  Masontown, 
May  19,  1889,  from  1  Tim.  1  :  7.  She  was  regularly  ordained  to 
the  Christian  ministry  by  the  home  church,  August  10,  1890.  She 
served  as  state  evangelist  by  appointment  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Conference  for  the  conference  year  ot  1895,  to  general  acceptance. 

Local  troubles  which  Sister  Sterling  could  not  control,  and  for 
which  she  was  in  nowise  responsible,  have  greatly  hindered  the 
success  of  her  work  in  the  home  church. 

During  her  ministry,  dating  from  1889  to  1900,  Sister  Sterling 
preached  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  sermons,  and 
was  instrumental  in  bringing  into  the  Brethren  Church  seventy- 
eight  persons,  forty-eight  of  whom  she  baptized.     (Portrait  No. 

264.) 


736  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ELDER  S.   C.   STUMP. 

Samuel  C.  Stump  was  born  in  York  County,  Pennsylvania, 
August  15,  1825.  In  1835  ne  moved  with  his  father  to  near 
Eaton,  Preble  County,  Ohio,  where  he  grew  to  manhood.  Here 
he  married  Miss  Sarah  McFadden,  April,  1847.  Shortly  after 
his  marriage  he  moved  to  Wells  County,  Indiana,  at  a  time  when 
that  country  was  yet  a  wilderness,  and  where  hewing  a  home  out 
of  the  primeval  forest  meant  much  hard  labor  and  perseverance, 
and  the  endurance  of  many  privations  and  hardships.  He  was  a 
man  well  qualified  for  such  a  task,  as  he  was  by  nature  endowed 
with  an  iron  constitution  and  indomitable  energy.  But  his  time 
here  was  not  wholly  absorbed  in  building  an  earthly  home  and 
laying  up  earthly  treasures.  He  bethought  himself  of  his  duty 
towards  God,  and,  embracing  faith  in  Christ,  he  and  his  wife 
journeyed  back  to  Ohio  to  receive  baptism  of  Elder  Minnich,  of 
the  Brethren  Church.  This  event  took  place  before  the  name 
German  Baptist  was  recognized  as  the  legal  name  of  the  church. 

Brother  Stump  never  swerved  in  his  faith  in  Christ  and  His 
gospel  as  the  perfect  plan  of  salvation.  In  a  few  years  after  this 
event  a  Brethren  Church  was  organized  in  Wells  County,  and 
Brother  Stump  was  chosen  to  the  ministry. 

David  M.  Truby  was  chosen  at  the  same  time,  and  they 
remained  colaborers  together  for  a  number  of  years.  Brother 
Stump  applied  hmself  as  diligently  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  as 
his  opportunities  would  permit.  The  church  in  that  day  con- 
sidered it  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  the  gospel  for  ministers 
to  accept  pay  for  preaching.  The  minister's  usefulness  was  cir- 
cumscribed by  the  time  and  labor  he  necessarily  had  to  devote  to 
secular  interests.  Without  the  advantages  of  a  good  education, 
and  with  a  family  to  support,  he  bestowed  such  time  as  he  could 
spare  to  study  and  the  cause,  and  as  a  minister  he  attained  to  a 
position  of  considerable  usefulness  in  his  day.  He  traveled 
much,  carrying  the  gospel  to  isolated  places,  and  participated  in 
the  organization  of  numerous  churches,  especially  in  the  western 
states.     In  1878  he  came  to  Richardson  County,  Nebraska,  where 


73S  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

he  lived  until  his  death,  which  took  place  Friday,  September  14, 
1888. 

His  relation  to  the  church  was  that  of  a  devoted  father,  ready 
at  all  times  and  upon  all  occasions  to  perform  his  whole  duty.  In 
the  trial  of  faith  which  the  church  was  called  upon  to  undergo, 
Elder  Stump  stood  true  to  the  principles  of  the  early  brethren, 
and  maintained  his  integrity  and  consistency  as  a  champion  of 
the  doctrine  that  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  a  perfect  law,  and  that 
human  creeds  are  subversive  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  A  large 
majority  of  his  church  stood  with  him  in  loyalty  to  gospel  Chris- 
tianity, and  a  factious  minority  withdrew  in  favor  of  annual 
meeting  laws. 

Brother  Stump  was  the  ideal  of  manhood, — tender  as  a  lamb, 
yet  brave  as  a  lion.  When  sympathy  was  needed,  none  was  more 
forward  to  bestow  it  than  he.  When  justice  was  endangered, 
none  was  more  brave.  He  was  decidedly  a  man  of  principle.  To 
encourage  the  weak,  to  relieve  the  distressed,  to  dare  the  cruel 
and  unjust,  was  the  business  of  his  life.  •  As  a  preacher,  but  few 
excelled  him  in  earnestness,  devotion,  zeal,  and  Biblical  lore.  As 
a  neighbor,  he  was  spoken  of  in  the  highest  terms.  (Portrait 
No.  238.)  \ 

WILLIAM   W.    SUMMERS. 

William  W.  Summers  was  born  in  Rush  County,  Indiana, 
December  14,  1846.  His  father  died  when  he  was  one  year  old, 
and  his  mother  when  he  was  three  years,  thus  leaving  him  an 
orphan  at  a  tender  age.  He  was  bound  out  to  his  grandfather 
Summers,  who  gave  him  a  good  common-school  education,  and 
brought  him  up  in  the  faith  of  the  Campbellite  Church.  When 
he  arrived  at  maturity  he  joined  the  German  Baptists,  but  taking 
exceptions  to  their  form  of  government,  he  withdrew  from  them 
after  three  years,  and  associated  with  the  Congregational  Breth- 
ren, who  called  him  to  the  ministry. 

When  the  Brethren  Church  was  organized,  Brother  Summers 
united  in  the  reconstruction  and  consolidation  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Brethren,  and  became  one  of  its  staunch  supporters  in  the 
ministry,  and  even  other  departments  of  the  work.     He  has  been 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  739 

instrumental,  through  his  ministration,  in  bringing  hundreds  into 
the  church.  He  is  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  Brethren  cause  of 
the  state  of  Indiana,  being  very  successful  as  a  revivalist,  espe- 
cially where  he  is  well  known,  as  his  life  bears  testimony  to  his 
ministry.     (Portraits  Nos.  68,  372.) 

J.    O.    TALLEY. 

J.  O.  Talley  was  born  in  Monroe  County,  Iowa,  August  17, 
1862.  He  is  a  son  of  Mark  and  Jane  Talley.  The  family  moved 
to  Montgomery,  Iowa,  in  1866,  where  he  resided  with  his  par- 
ents until  1879,  when  he  went  west,  and  made  his  home  with 
the  family  of  an  elder  sister  and  her  husband,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  A. 
Turner,  near  Longmont,  Colorado;  who  were  members  of  the 
German  Baptist  Church.  It  was  here  that  he  first  met  with  the 
Tunker  people.  In  1882  he  united  with  the  German  Baptists.  In 
the  autumn  of  the  same  year  he  married  Miss  Sarah  J.  Flora, 
daughter  of  Elder  J.  S.  Flora,  a  pioneer  preacher  in  the  German 
Baptist  Church  in  that  part  of  the  west.  In  1884  he  was  called 
to  the  ministry,  and  a  year  later  was  advanced  to  the  full  min- 
istry in  that  church.  He  labored  successfully  in  this  relation 
until  the  autumn  of  1888,  when  the  matter  of  making  the  deci- 
sions of  annual  meeting  mandatory,  and  nonconformity,  in  mat- 
ters of  dress,  began  to  be  discussed,  and  attempts  made  to  enforce 
them,  which  resulted  in  a  special  meeting  of  the  church,  at  which 
Elder  Enoch  Eby  was  called  to  preside.  When  he  saw  that  to 
remain  in  that  relation  in  peace  meant  to  adopt  man-made  doc- 
trines, he  and  nine  others  withdrew  from  fellowship,  and  organ- 
ized a  class,  holding  services  in  a  schoolhouse.  These  were  Jane 
Talley,  T.  A.  Turner  and  wife,  W.  L.  Bashor  and  wife,  E.  E. 
Hutchison,  Mrs.  Minnie  Baumert,  and  J.  R.  Mason  and  wife. 

A  year  later  they  called  Elder  W.  J.  H.  Bauman,  of  the  Breth- 
ren Church,  from  Kansas  to  hold  some  special  meetings,  at  which 
time  Brother  Talley  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  in  the  Brethren 
Church. 

In  October,  1892,  he  was  called  to  Milledgeville,  Illinois,  where 
he  labored  successfully   for   six  years,  about  one   hundred  and 


74-0  HISTORY    OF   THE   TUNKERS. 

thirty  members  being  added  to  the  church  during  his  pastorate. 
At  the  general  conference  of  1893  he  was  elected  president  of  the 
King's  Children  Society,  which  office  he  held  for  five  years,  and 
was  editor  of  the  King's  Children  paper  four  years.  He  was 
chairman  of  the  session  of  the  King's  Children  conference  of 
1896,  at  which  time  the  first  offerings  were  taken  to  start  a  mis- 
sion in  the  city  of  Chicago.  At  the  Illiokota  conference  of  1897 
he  was  elected  evangelist  for  the  district,  and  at  the  general  con- 
ference of  the  church  held  at  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania,  the  same 
year,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  general  missionary  board. 
Feeling  the  importance  of  the  missionary  work,  he  resigned  pas- 
toral work  November,  1898,  and  moved  to  Chicago,  and  has  since 
devoted  his  entire  time  to  the  missionary  work.  He  called  the 
first  missionary  convention  in  the  Brethren  Church,  which  met 
at  Milledgeville,  in   1897.     (Portraits   52,  226.) 

ELIAS    TEETER. 

Elias  Teeter,  an  old  charter  member  and  superannuated  min- 
ister of  the  Brethren  Church  at  Pleasant  Hill,  Miami  County, 
Ohio,  was  born  in  Bedford  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  1828.  He 
was  reared  on  a  farm,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  he  taught  in 
one  of  the  common  schools,  and  from  that  time  on  he  continued 
teaching  during  the  winter  seasons  and  working  at  farming  in  the 
summer  seasons,  excepting  two  summers,  when  a  student  in  an 
academy. 

In  1857  ne  emigrated  to  Iowa,  where  he  taught  and  farmed 
alternately  as  before.  In  i860  he  united  with  the  German  Bap- 
tist Church,  and  in  1865  he  moved  to  near  Pleasant  Hill,  Ohio, 
on  a  farm,  and  was  received  into  full  fellowship  in  the  church 
by  letter,  and  worshiped  in  peace  and  union  until  1874.  At  that 
time  he  withdrew  his  membership  from  that  church,  became  a 
charter  member  of  the  Brethren  Church,  and  was  ordained  to 
preach,  as  above  stated.     (Portrait  No.  114.) 

R.  R.  TEETER. 

R.  R.  Teeter  was  born  in  Miami  County,  Ohio,  March  8,  1870. 
His  parents.  Elder  E.  K.  Teeter  and  wife,  are  pioneer  progress- 


742  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ives,  having  been  active  parties  in  the  division  which  took  place 
in  about  1875,  resulting  in  the  Congregational  Brethren.  He  was 
baptized  by  Isaac  Kilhefner,  March  20,  1890.  His  first  education 
was  received  in  the  village  and  high  school  of  Pleasant  Hill,  Ohio, 
He  then  taught  school,  and  afterward  attended  the  normal  uni- 
versity at  Ada,  Ohio,  later  going  to  Ashland  College,  where  he 
graduated  in  1893,  receiving  the  B.  L.  degree.  In  1897  and  ^98 
he  attended  the  Manchester  Bible  School,  at  North  Manchester, 
Indiana.  He  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  by  William  W.  Sum- 
mers and  E.  K.  Teeter,  January  1,  1893.  His  first  pastorate  was 
at  Mount  Pleasant,  Indiana,  where  he  remained  three  and  one- 
he  If  years.  During  his  first  year  at  Mount  Pleasant  he  married 
Miss  Delia  Hale,  of  Ohio,  who  has  proved  a  valuable  help  in  his 
ministerial  work.  He  is  now  located  at  Milledgeville,  Illinois. 
In  connection  with  his  pastoral  efforts  he  has  done  successful 
evangelistic  work  through  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Iowa.  He  is 
also  secretary  of  the  National  Ministerial  Association  of  the 
Brethren  Church,  and  is  now  serving  his  seventh  year  in  that 
office.      (Portraits  92,   146.) 

MICHAEL    J.    THOMAS. 

Michael  J.  Thomas  was  born  in  Preston  County,  West  Vir- 
ginia, January  1,  1832.  When  two  years  of  age  his  parents 
moved  to  Fayette  County,  Pennsylvania,  and  Michael  was  edu- 
cated in  the  common  schools  and  at  Mount  Pleasant  College,  in 
Westmoreland  County.  He  was  converted  and  joined  the  Tunker 
Church  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  He  and  Miss  Sarah  A.  Zim- 
merman were  married  May  to,  1863.  He  was  called  to  the  min- 
istry in  1864,  and  ordained  to  the  eldership  in  1885,  and  served 
in  the  ministry  thirty-three  years,  his  first  twelve  years'  service 
having  been  performed  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  West 
Virginia.  In  1876  he  removed  to  New  Virginia,  Iowa,  where  he 
lived  and  labored  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  August 
23,  1897.     The  local  paper  says  of  Elder  Thomas: — 

"The  pulpit  from  which  deceased  had  so  often  spoken  was 
draped  in  mourning,  and  the  house  was  appropriately  decorated, 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL. 


743 


mutely  telling  of  the  deep  regard  in  which  the  congregation  and 
the  community  held  the  dear  old  man,  whose  many  deeds  of  kind- 
ness and  gentle  ways  had  most  thoroughly  endeared  him  to  all  our 
people.  Few  men  living  in 
a. community  for  twenty-one 
years  can  go  out  of  it  leav- 
ing behind  them  so  much  re- 
gret and  heartfelt  sorrow 
as  has  our  townsman,  Elder 
Michael  J.  Thomas. 

I  was  personally  ac- 
quainted with  Brother 
Thomas,  and  believe  the 
paper  voiced  the  sentiment 
of    the    entire    community. 

JAMES   M.   TOMBAUGH. 


James  M.  Tombaugh  was 
born  in  Washington  County, 
Pennsylvania,  November  10, 
1857.  At  about  the  age  of 
twenty-one  he  united  with 
the  German  Baptist  Church, 
being  baptized  by  A.  J.  Sterling 


M.  J.  THOMAS 

He  was  elected  to  the  min- 
istry in  the  Pigeon  Creek  congregation,  in  his  native  county, 
and  was  installed  in  the  second  degree  of  the  ministry  by  Elder 
P.  J.  Brown. 

When  the  division  of  the  church  occurred,  he  espoused  the 
brethren  cause,  and  in  April,  1885,  he  became  pastor  of  the  Fair- 
view  congregation,  at  Washington  C.  H.,  Ohio.  This,  his  first 
pastorate,  extended  over  a  period  of  thirteen  years,  terminating 
in  April,  1898,  when  he  became  pastor  of  the  congregation  in 
Hagerstown,   Maryland. 

The  Bear  Creek  and  Miamisburg  congregations  became  a  part 
of  the  Fairview  pastorate  in  about  1890,  and  the  three  congrega- 
tions constituted  a  circuit  till  1898. 


744  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

Brother  Tombaugh  was  graduated  from  Waynesburg  College, 
Pennsylvania,  in  June,  1884,  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  He  was 
for  several  years  president  of  Ashland  -College,  and  he  combined 
his  pastoral  work  with  teaching.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Brethren 
publication  board  at  present,  A.  D.   1900.     (Portraits  Nos.  63, 

J.  B.  WAMPLER. 

Elder  J.  B.  Wampler  was  born  in  Armstrong  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, January  8,  1837.  He  is  of  German  and  Scotch  nation- 
ality. He  united  with  the  German  Baptist  Church  June  20,  1858. 
He  married  Eliza  Beer  March  3,  1864,  who  had  united  with  the 
same  church  June  26,  1858.  In  September,  1868,  he  was  elected 
deacon,  and  was  called  to  the  ministry  June  20,  1874.  On  June 
22,  1875,  he  was  advanced  to  the  second  degree  of  the  ministry. 
On  March  15,  1884,  he  was  ordained  to  the  office  of  elder,  Elders 
P.  J.  Brown  and  J.  W.  Beer  officiating.  He  served  the  church 
as  evangelist  before  and  after  the  division  of  1882.  He  is  the 
author  of  several  maps  and  charts  entitled  "Biblical,  Typical,  and 
Analytical  Maps."  From  these  he  teaches  the  Bible  in  type  and 
antitype.  His  illustrated  sermons  are  based  on  these  maps  and 
charts.  Brother  Wampler  is  also  the  author  of  a  tract  entitled 
the  "Law  of  Baptism."  He  was  reelected  Pennsylvania  state 
evangelist  at  the  state  conference  of  1899,  and  has  served  as 
evangelist  for  a  number  of  years.  He  is  thoroughly  versed  in 
the  Bible,  and  is  using  his  knowledge  to  the  advancement  of  God's 
cause.  He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  reconstruction, 
and  is  now  a  member  of  the  committee  of  appeals  in  his  own  state. 
(Portraits  23,  82,  168,  204,  228.) 

J.  W.  WENGERT,  M.  D. 

John  Weaver  Wengert  was  born  May  26,  1836,  on  a  farm  near 
Mechanicsburg,  Cumberland  County,  Pennsylvania.  During  his 
boyhood  and  youth  he  assisted  in  the  farm  work,  at  the  same 
time  endeavoring  to  obtain  an  education  in  the  common  schools. 
While  yet  a  mere  youth,  he  secured  a  situation  with  a  merchant 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL. 


745 


at  Mechanicsburg.  This  afforded  him  an  excellent  opportunity 
to  pursue  his  favorite  study,  that  of  medicine.  His  brother, 
Daniel  Wengert,  being  engaged  in  that  profession  in  the  same 


vicinity,  he  took  preparatory  instructions  from  him.  After  com- 
pleting the  course  at  college,  he  entered  into  partnership  with  his 
brother  Daniel  in  the  spring  of  1858.  He  and  Miss  Mary  Barrick 
were  married  previous  to  his  entering  upon  his  professional  duties, 
which  proved  a  happy  consummation.  Some  time  afterward  both 
joined  the  German  Baptist  Church. 

Doctor  Wengert  practiced  medicine  at  Markleysburg,  Pennsyl- 


746  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

vania,  and  in  the  state  of  Missouri  at  different  times,  but  finally 
settled  at  Fredericksburg  (Clover  Creek  Post-office),  where  he 
closed  his  professional  and  business  career  in  the  spring  of  1900, 
and  retired  to  the  town  of  Martinsburg,  same  county,  where  he 
died  in  June  following. 

Brother  Wengert  was  a  true  Christian  gentleman,  and  a  very 
successful  doctor.  The  local  papers  said  of  him :  "For  more  than 
thirty  years  Doctor  Wengert  went  in  and  out  among  the  homes 
of  the  people  along  Clover  Creek,  a  ceaseless,  untiring  worker. 
Studious  and  painstaking  in  every  feature  of  his  professional 
work,  loyal  to  his  patients,  regardless  of  the  season  or  remuner- 
ation.'' 

I  was  well  acquainted  with  Brother  Wengert,  and  shared  his 
hospitality  on  several  occasions.  But  for  his  faithfulness  and 
devotion  to  the  cause,  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  congregation  of 
the  Brethren  Church  could  have  been  sustained;  certainly  no 
house  of  worship  could  have  been  secured  and  paid  for  without 
his  liberality.     He  was,  to  the  day,  three  years  my  junior. 

ROBERT     WHIT  ACRE. 

Elder  Robert  Whitacre,  of  the  Cowenshannoc  congregation 
Brethren  Church,  in  Armstrong  County,  Pennsylvania,  was  born 
in  Lycoming  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  24th  of  January,  182 1. 
He  is  of  English,  German,  and  Scotch  extraction.  His  father 
moved  to  Armstrong  County  in  1823.  From  that  time  Robert 
has  been  a  resident  of  the  same  county  to  the  present  writing.  In 
1843,   November   16,  he  married   Sarah   Stauffer. 

Brother  and  Sister  Whitacre  were  both  baptized  by  Elder  James 
Quinter,  in  June,  1850.  In  1852  he  was  elected  and  installed  into 
the  office  of  deacon;  was  called  to  the  ministry  and  installed  to 
the  second  degree  in  1856.  At  the  time  of  the  church  division 
Brother  and  Sister  Whitacre  and  their  two  daughters,  Mary  and 
Catherine,  stood  firm  in  the  Gospel- Alone  Church,  organized  by 
the  "Anointed  of  God,"  and  perpetuated  by  our  forefathers. 

Sister  Sarah  Whitacre  departed  this  life  on  the  17th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1893,  having  lived  happily  with  her  husband  for  fifty  years 
and  one  day. 


BRETHREN   CHURCH— BIOGRAPHICAL.  74/ 

M.  S.  WHITE. 

M.  S.  White  was  born  in  Ross  County,  Ohio,  November  7,  1856. 
He  was  raised  on  a  farm,  and  received  a  fair  common-school  edu- 
cation. He  united  with  the  German  Baptist  Church  August, 
1875,  at  Fairview,  Ohio,  being  baptized  by  A.  J.  Hixson,  and  was 
called  to  the  ministry  by  that  congregation,  April,  1890.  He, 
with  the  congregation,  united  with  the  Brethren  Church.  He  was 
ordained  to  the  ministry  at  West  Alexander,  Ohio,  June,  1892, 
by  S.  J.  Harrison  and  W.  W.  Summers.  His  first  charge  was 
the  West  Independence  church,  Hancock  County,  commencing 
September  16,  1894.  He  served  that  church  four  and  one-half 
years ;  next,  the  Gretna,  in  Logan  County  ;  and  at  present  he  is 
located  at  Pleasant  Hill,  Miami  County,  and  is  pastor  of  both 
Gretna  and  Pleasant  Hill  churches.     (Portrait  No.  93.) 

s.  w.  wilt. 

S.  W.  Wilt  was  born  at  Rural  Valley,  Armstrong  County. 
Pennsylvania,  July  20,  1843.  He  was  baptized  by  Elder  Joseph 
Shumaker  in  1857,  and  elected  to  the  office  of  deacon  September, 
1874;  chosen  to  the  ministry  June  25,  1875,  and  advanced  to  sec- 
ond degree  March  4,  1876.  He  was  ordained  to  the  full  ministry 
October  1,  1887. 

He  attended  Rural  Village  Academy  under  the  care  of  Profes- 
sor Lewis  Kimmel.  He  has  only  been  out  of  active  work  in  the 
ministry  five  months  since  June,  1875,  and  is  now  pastor  of  the 
Brethren  Church  at  West  Independence,  Ohio.  (Portrait 
No.  247.) 

J.   G.   WINEY. 

Josiah  G.  Winey  was  born  near  Richfield,  Union  County  (now 
Snyder),  Pennsylvania,  December  4,  1839,  on  the  farm  first 
cleared  in  the  valley  known  as  Graybill's  Valley.  His  father, 
Amos  Winey,  was  born  in  Lebanon  County,  same  state,  February 
27,  1796.  He  removed  with  his  parents  to  Union  County  about 
eighty-five  years  ago,  and  died  February  24,  1880. 

His  parents  were  consistent  members  of  the  Mennonite  Church, 


748  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

which  was  the  prevailing  religion  of  that  section  of  country.  On 
the  22(1  day  of  March,  i860,  when  Josiah  was  twenty  years  old, 
he  emigrated  to  Miami  County,  Ohio,  where  he  worked  at  the 
carpenter  trade. 

December  12,  1861,  J.  G.  Winey  and  Miss  Mary  H.  Mohler, 
daughter  of  John  Mohler,  were  married.  They  moved  to  Union 
City,  Indiana,  immediately  after  marriage,  and  emigrated  to 
Campbell,  Ionia  County,  Michigan,  April  3,  1868,  and  went  into 
the  wild  woods  to  carve  out  for  themselves  a  home. 

In  July,  1862,  Brother  and  Sister  Winey  were  baptized  and 
received  into  the  German  Baptist  Church,  Elder  Joseph  Reeser 
being  the  administrator.  This  was  in  the  Harris  Creek  congre- 
gation, a  body  of  about  four  hundred  members. 

After  his  removal  to  Ionia  County,  Michigan,  November  17, 
1869,  Brother  Winey  was  elected  to  the  ministry  in  the  Thorn- 
apple  church,  Elders  Jacob  Berkey  and  Doctor  D.  B.  Sturgis  offi- 
ciating. The  church  then  was  small  and  scattered  over  five 
counties. 

Brother  Winey  is  credited  with  preaching  the  first  Tunker  ser- 
mon in  Gratiot  County.  The  Word  was  eagerly  sought  for  and 
amply  digested  by  the  few  faithful  ones,  and  blessed  with  an  occa- 
sional harvest  of  souls.  The  church  was  in  perfect  harmony, 
with  scarcely  a  ripple  to  mar  the  good  feelings  of  the  members. 
Brother  Winey's  labors  seemed  to  meet  the  general  approval  of 
both  members  and  outsiders,  judging  from  the  number  of  funerals 
he  served  and  the  scores  of  marriages  he  solemnized. 

Soon  after  his  election  to  the  first  degree  in  the  ministry  he  was 
advanced  to  the  second.  The  church  increased  by  accessions  and 
immigrations  from  Ohio  and  Indiana.  With  the  immigrations 
came  also  "the  order.''  Trouble  came  into  the  church,  and  coun- 
cil meeting  after  council  meeting  was  called,  and  committees  were 
had  to  adjust  matters.  One  of  the  committees  was  sent  from 
annual  conference.  Brethren  Jesse  Calvert  and  John  P.  Eber- 
sole  were  the  committee  sent,  which  seemed  to  ease  the  trouble 
for  a  short  time.  George  Long  being  the  elder  of  the  Thornapple 
church  and  Isaac  Miller  of  the  Woodland  church,  the  fraternal 


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750  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

feeling  was  not  always  as  warm  as  it  should  have  been  between 
brethren. 

About  the  year  1875  the  old-order  faction  withdrew  from  the 
church  and  organized  a  separate  body.  The  elder  and  one  of 
the  deacons,  with  some  fifteen  lay  members,  left  the  body.  Mat- 
ters were  still  unsettled.  There  were  still  others  continually 
harping  on  the  order  question,  the  cut  of  the  coat,  the  wearing  of 
the  hair  and  beard,  with  other  non-essentials. 

Finally,  in  the  year  1887,  another  division  occurred,  in  which 
Brother  Winey  and  others  were  excommunicated  from  the  church. 
Brother  Winey,  however,  ceased  preaching  but  a  short  time.  He 
continued  preaching  and  superintending  Sunday-schools.  His 
school  was  the  largest  in  the  history  of  this  church.  The  average 
attendance  for  five  years  was  more  than  one  hundred ;  and  his 
congregations  were  unusually  large  after  his  expulsion. 

In  the  fall  of  1887  they  called  to  their  assistance  Elder  Isaac 
Kilhefner,  of  Ashland,  Ohio,  to  hold  a  protracted  meeting,  and 
God  blessed  the  labors.  The  visible  result  was  twenty-one  con- 
versions. Never  before  was  this  locality  so  aroused  to  a  sense 
of  duty.  At  the  beginning  of  the  meeting  they  organized  a  class 
with  seven  charter  members,  and  named  it  the  Campbell  Brethren 
Church.  In  January,  1888,  Brother  Winey  was  ordained  to  the 
eldership,  Brethren  Kilhefner  and  C.  A.  Price  officiating.  On 
January  19,  1888,  eighteen  persons  were  baptized  and  received 
into  the  church. 

J.  G.  Winey  served  the  church  as  elder  and  pastor  consecutively 
until  1894.  In  the  winter  of  1888  and  1889  the  Campbell  Breth- 
ren Church  held  another  series  of  meetings,  Elder  Kilhefner 
assisting.  Twenty-six  persons  were  received  into  the  church. 
This  increased  the  number  to  seventy-eight  members.  The  labors 
of  Brother  and  Sister  Winey  were  incessant  and  arduous  for 
nearly  one-third  of  a  century,  serving  the  church.  No  stranger 
or  beggar  was  turned  away  unfed.  Visiting  the  sick  and  admin- 
istering to  their  wants  was  another  characteristic  of  their  philan- 
thropy. 

They  are  now  living  on  the  homestead  they  hewed  out  of  "the 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  751 

wilds  of  Michigan"  thirty-three  years  ago,  and  hope  to  remain 
there  until  the  Lord  says,  "It  is  enough."      (Portrait  No.  325.) 

MARCUS  A.   WITTER. 

Marcus  Alton  Witter  was  born  June  24,  1877,  in  St.  Joseph 
County,  Indiana. 

Marcus  attended  the  district  school  near  his  birthplace  until 
twelve  years  old.  He  then  entered  the  high  school  at  South  Bend, 
Indiana,  from  which  he  graduated  in  June,  1893.  His  vacations 
were  all  spent  with  his  father  on  the  farm,  as  were  also  the  two 
years  following  his  graduation  at  the  high  school.  In  the  fall  of 
1895  he  began  teaching  the  school  where  he  had  spent  his  first 
six  years  of  his  school  life.  He  taught  two  winters  here,  and 
during  the  second  he  became  a  Christian. 

The  associates  of  his  childhood  and  youth  had  made  him  skep- 
tical. He  was  anxious  to  know  the  truth,  and  did  some  hard 
study  before  he  succeeded  in  ridding  himself  of  all  the  doubts 
that  infidel  associates  had  instilled  into  his  mind.  A  prayerful 
reading  of  the  Bible  itself  resulted  in  his  seeing  the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

On  November  1,  1896,  he  confessed  Christ  as  his  Saviour  and 
Master,  and  six  days  later  was  baptized  by  Elder  William  D. 
Furry,  who  was  pastor  of  the  Fairview  (Indiana)  congregation, 
and  who  had  been  a  faithful  guide  in  leading  him  to  Christ. 

Marcus  at  once  decided  that  his  life  should  be  given  to  the  work 
of  spreading  the  gospel,  and  to  that  end  began  a  more  systematic 
study  of  the  Bible.  He  was  much  encouraged  and  overjoyed  by 
seeing  first  his  brother  and  then  his  mother  and  father  accept 
Christ,  all  in  the  same  winter  in  which  he  had  given  himself  to 
Christ. 

On  Easter  Sunday,  1898,  he  preached  his  first  sermon.  About 
this  time  Elder  W.  D.  Furry,  in  his  report  of  the  church  work  to 
the  Evangelist,  mentioned  the  name  of  Marcus  A.  Witter  as  one 
who  was  preparing  to  serve  the  church  as  pastor  of  some  flock. 
In  a  very  shor^  time  a  letter  came  from  Jones'  Mills,  Pennsylvania, 
calling  him  to  that  church  as  pastor.     After  some  hesitancy  and 


752  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

much  prayer,  the  call  was  accepted.  He  was  accordingly 
ordained  June  12,  1898,  and  on  June  17  he  started  to  Jones' 
Mills,  Pennsylvania,  to  take  charge  of  the  church  there,  together 
with  the  charges  at  Mount  Pleasant  and  Laurel  Run. 

He  served  these  charges  until  April  1,  1900,  when  he  closed  his 
pastorate  at  Mount  Pleasant  and  Laurel  Run,  to  take  charge  of 
the  congregation  at  Listie,  retaining  the  charge  of  Jones'  Mills. 

At  Jones'  Mills  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Margaret 
Kuhlman.  The  acquaintance  grew  into  friendship,  and  finally 
resulted  in  their  being  united  in  marriage,  August  16,  1900. 

From  the  time  he  entered  the  work  of  the  ministry  (June, 
1898)  till  the  present  date  (September,  1900),  he  has  been  blessed 
with  the  privilege  of  baptizing  fourteen  souls,  and  has  received 
in  all  eighteen  into  the  church.  He  now  has  charge  of  the  con- 
gregation at  Jones'  Mills  and  Listie,  Pennsylvania.  (Portrait 
No.  316.) 

GEORGE  WOLFE. 

Elder  George  Wolfe  was  born  in  Union  County,  Illinois,  on  the 
25th  day  of  June,  in  the  year  1809.  Here  he  grew  to  manhood, 
and  in  his  youth  was  married  to  Rua  Faggart,  whom  he  loved 
through  a  long  and  adventurous  life,  with  all  the  devotion  of  a 
faithful  husband.  She  was  born  in  Cabaris  County,  North  Car- 
olina, May  28,  1812,  and  died  May  13,  1880. 

While  yet  living  in  Illinois,  he  joined  the  branch  of  the  Tunker 
Church  then  known  in  our  literature  as  the  "Far  Western  Breth- 
ren."  Just  think  of  it,  Illinois  in  the  "far  west"  !  His  uncle. 
Elder  George  Wolfe,  Elder  Isham  Gibson,  Daniel  B.  Sturges, 
and  others,  were  leading  ministers  in  that  church.  Here,  too,  he 
was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  ordained  in  the  office,  and  became 
an  active  worker.  By  action  of  the  annual  meeting  of  1859, 
this  body  of  people  was  associated  with  the  general  brother- 
hood of  the  Tunker  Church,  but  retained  some  of  its  peculiar 
views  and  practices.  In  the  meantime,  however,  Elder  George 
Wolfe,  Jr.,  removed  to  California,  whither  he  emigrated  in  the 
vear  1856,  remaining  several  years  in  Montgomery  County,  but 
locating  permanently  in  San  Joaquin  County,  in  the  fall  of  i860, 


754  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

and  took  a  home  near  what  is  now  called  Lathrop.  Here,  with 
others,  he  soon  joined  in  the  organization  of  a  church,  in  which 
he  labored  faithfully,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  to  the  time  of  his 
death.  Said  an  outsider  to  me,  "We  never  considered  him  much 
of  a  preacher,  but  we  know  him  to  be  a  good  man ;  and  so  when 
he  comes  to  preach,  we  always  go  to  hear  him,  and  try  to  give 
him  a  full  house."  And  that  is  about  what  everybody  said,  except 
those  who  had  some  religious  bias,  which  was  more  potent  than 
their  admiration  of  Christian  nobility.  He  was  fond  of  reading 
the  Bible,  and  was  acquainted  with  its  teachings,  and  loved  to 
quote  its  promises.  He  was  kind  and  generous  toward  all. 
Brother  Walter  Myers,  one  of  his  colaborers,  said  of  him  as  a 
preacher :  "He  was  well  liked ;  his  plain  way  of  telling  the  story 
of  the  cross  drew  the  congregation  toward  him,  and  they  never 
tired  of  hearing  him  speak.  He  loved  to  tell  the  story  of  Jesus 
and  His  love.  As  an  exhorter  he  had  few  equals,  and  it  has  been 
our  privilege  more  than  once,  while  traveling  and  preaching  with 
him,  to  see  the  whole  congregation  in  tears." 

The  annual  meeting  of  1874  sent  a  committee  to  California  to 
adjust  some  difficulties.  They  visited  the  San  Joaquin  Valley 
church  in  the  latter  part  of  October  of  the  same  year,  only  two 
elders,  however,  serving,  namely,  B.  F.  Moomaw  and  H.  D. 
Davy.  Of  the  action  of  the  committee  he  had  much  to  say,  the 
saddest  part  of  it  being  that  they  divided  the  church  in  order  to 
get  their  pet  theory,  the  double  mode  of  feet-washing,  a  foothold 
in  California.  But  it  did  not  succeed ;  that  part  of  the  church  has 
entirely  died  out.  "Every  plant  which  My  heavenly  Father  hath 
not  planted,  shall  be  rooted  up."  Elder  Wolfe  was  censured  by 
the  committee  for  several  items  of  digression  from  the  established 
usages,  but  they  reported  that  their  decisions  and  requirements 
had  been  complied  with,  and  their  report  was  adopted  by  con- 
ference. All  went  well  from  that  time  until  during  the  pro- 
gressive reformation,  when  the  California  brethren  joined  with 
progressives,  and,  after  the  Dayton  convention,  decided  to  go  with 
the  Brethren  Church.  All  of  which  was  in  full  accord  with  the 
wishes  of  Elder  Wolfe. 


BRETHREN    CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  755 

In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  written  in  March,  1883,  after  describing 
the  state  of  the  church  in  California,  he  says :  "I  am  of  the  same 
opinion  as  when  yon  were  here,  only  I  think  I  see  the  promises 
of  God  more  clearly.  We  are  now  in  a  probationary,  temporary, 
preparatory  state  for  a  higher  station.  And  when  the  time  comes 
that  we  can  bid  farewell  to  all  things  here  below,  we  can  then 
exclaim,  kO  death,  where  is  thy  sting?'  " 

He  died  July  23,  1887,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years  and 
twenty-eight  days.      (Portrait  No.  234.) 

JOHN  P.  WOLFE. 

John  P.  Wolfe  was  a  son  of  Elder  George  Wolfe.  He  was 
born  in  Lee  County,  Iowa,  May  30,  1844.  He  came  to  California 
in  1856,  a  lad  of  twelve  years,  by  way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
with  his  father's  family  and  others,  making  a  party  of  thirteen. 
The  Wolfe  family  settled  at  Watsonville,  and  later  at  Gilroy, 
coming  to  San  Joaquin  Valley  in  1861.  They  settled  near 
Lathrop,  and  have  remained  in  the  vicinity. 

He  was  united  in  marriage  with  Anna  Overholtzer  in  1874. 
He  joined  the  Brethren  Church  during  the  annual  camp-meeting 
of  1864,  receiving  baptism  at  the  hand  of  Elder  Frank  Myers,  of 
Iowa,  who  was  the  leading  preacher  at  the  meeting  that  year.  He 
with  his  brother  Joseph  was  called  to  the  ministry  in  1874.  His 
brother  died  soon  afterward,  and  John  was  left  as  his  father's 
only  assistant.  He  was  ordained  to  the  eldership  in  1879,  by  his 
father  and  Elder  Jonathan  Myers.  He  was  for  years  the  leader 
in  all  religious  and  moral  work  over  a  large  territory,  preaching 
almost  two  hundred  funerals,  and  solemnizing  well-nigh  one  hun- 
dred marriages  in  sparsely-settled  California.  His  presence  at 
these  functions  was  considered  indispensable  by  very  many  people, 
who,  being  thus  served  in  their  joys  and  sorrows,  were  drawn 
more  and  more  closely  to  him. 

He  was  conservative  and  good  from  childhood.  As  a  Christian 
he  was  a  true  example  of  1  Corinthians  13.  As  a  minister  it  was 
not  his  learning  nor  eloquence  which  won  men's  hearts,  but  his 
love  for  God  and  man.     It  was  a  dominant  element  of  his  soul. 


756  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

It  was  impossible  not  to  love    him,  for    his    love    leaped    over 
obstacles,  and  was  not  to  be  resisted. 

He  died  at  I  120  p.  m.,  Sunday,  April  17,  1898.  His  prayers 
were  for  his  family  and  the  church,  which  was  very  dear  to  him. 
His  benediction  rests  upon  us.  God  help  us  to  be  blessed  by  it. 
(Portrait  No.  235.) 

L.  G.  WOOD. 

L.  G.  Wood  was  born  in  Johnson  County,  Indiana,  November 
24,  1867.  His  parents  emigrated  to  Bourbon  County,  Kansas, 
September,  1872,  where  he  was  reared.  His  parents  were  both 
devoted  Christians.  The  mother  found  a  home  in  the  Drywood 
Brethren  Church,  of  Bourbon  County,  Kansas. 

L.  G.  Wood  was  converted  to  Christ  under  the  ministry  of 
Brother  A.  J.  Hixson,  and  was  baptized  by  H.  S.  Enslow,  Sep- 
tember 8,  1889;  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  April  4,  1890,  A. 
J.  Hixson  officiating.  His  first  attempt  to  preach  at  the  Drywood 
Baptist  Church  was  August  3,  1890.  Text,  Hebrews  4:3.  He 
was  married  to  Miss  Anna  Preston  October  II,  1892,  and  entered 
his  first  charge  on  May  1,  1898. 

E.  L.  YODER. 

Eli  Lorenzo  Yoder  was  born  in  Mifflin  County,  Pennsylvania, 
August  11,  1842.  His  parents  were  members  of  the  Amish  Men- 
nonite  Church.  They  were  of  German  and  Swiss  ancestors,  who 
emigrated  to  this  country  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  War.  His 
father  was  an  Amishman  of  the  liberal  sort,  a  schoolteacher,  and 
an  advocate  of  reform.  His  mother  died  when  her  only  child  was 
but  eight  years  of  age.  His  father  remarried,  and  moved  to  Ohio, 
where  his  son,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  joined  him,  and  lived  with  him 
until  he  was  twenty-one.  He  then  returned  to  Pennsylvania,  and 
shortly  after  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  war  for  the  Union,  at  Har- 
risburg,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  101st  P.  V.  I.,  and  served  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  He  then  returned  to  Ohio,  and  in  March,  1866, 
united  with  the  German  Baptist  Church,  being  baptized  by  Elder 
John  Shoemaker,  of  Smithville,  Ohio.  In  August  of  the  same 
year  he  married  Nannie  Seicrist,  in  Mifflin  County,  Pennsylvania, 


BRETHREN   CHURCH BIOGRAPHICAL.  757 

bought  a  small  homeland  lived  there  until  October,  1867,  when 
he  moved  to  Ohio.  In  1869  ne  was  elected  to  the  ministry,  and 
installed  by  Henry  Davy.  He  immediately  took  his  turn  with 
the  other  ministers  of  the  congregation,  who  were  Jacob  Kurtz, 
George  Irvin,  John  Shoemaker,  and  Cyrus  Hoover,  in  filling  the 
several  different  appointments  of  the  Chippewa  congregation. 
He  was  instrumental  in  introducing  Sunday-school,  song  books, 
the  Christian  Family  Companion,  and  with  P.  J.  Brown  planned 
and  introduced  the  first  Sunday-school  convention  held  by  the 
church  in  the  state  of  Ohio.  He  faithfully  stood  by  H.  R.  Hol- 
singer  and  the  Progressive  Christian,  strenuously  opposed  the 
enforcement  of  the  doctrine  of  avoidance,  which  was  then  yet  in 
vogue,  and  succeeded  in  consigning  it  into  innoucous  desuetude 
in  the  first  year  of  his  ministry.  For  all  this  the  young  minister 
was  considered  somewhat  "fast"  and  "progressive,"  and  his  pro- 
motion to  the  second  degree  was  postponed  for  many  years,  but 
was  finally  agreed  to  in  1874. 

When  the  subject  of  higher  education  for  the  church  was  agi- 
tated, Brother  Yoder  took  an  active  part.  He  and  Brother  P.  J. 
Brown  were  the  first  to  solicit  funds  for  that  purpose  in  Ohio, 
and  assisted  in  locating  and  establishing  Ashland  College.  He 
was  elected  a  trustee  of  that  institution  from  the  beginning,  and 
promoted  to  the  presidency  of  the  board. 

In  January,  1885,  he  became  one  of  the  purchasers  of  the 
Brethren  Evangelist,  and,  moving  to  Ashland,  Ohio,  assumed  the 
duties  of  managing  editor.  He  was  compelled  to  quit  the  paper 
on  account  of  the  loss  of  his  health,  and  moved  to  Lockwood, 
Missouri,  in  the  fall  of  1885,  where  his  wife  died  the  following 
August,  leaving  him  with  seven  children.  From  here  he  moved 
to  Falls  City,  Nebraska,  in  October,  1886,  where  he  served  as 
pastor  of  the  Brethren  Church  at  that  place  for  two  years.  In 
the  fall  of  1888  he  moved  to  near  Morrill,  Brown  County,  Kan- 
sas, serving  the  church  at  that  place.  January  5,  1888,  he  was 
married  to  Annie  Forney,  of  Berlin,  Somerset  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania.    (Portraits  172,  178,  183,  50.) 


758  HISTORY    OF    THE    TL'NKERS. 

C.  F.  YODER. 

C.  F.  Yoder,  son  of  Elder  E.  L.  Yoder,  was  born  March  26, 
1873,  in  Wayne  County,  Ohio.     His  parents  moved  to  Ashland 
in  1885,  and  to  southwestrn  Missouri  in  1886,  where  his  mother 
died;  to  Falls  City,  Nebraska,  in  1887;  an(l 
to  Morrill,  Kansas,  in   1889.      He    taught 
several  terms  in  the    common    schools  of 
Kansas.     He   graduated   at   the   Hiawatha 
(Kansas)    Academy  in   1894,   winning  the 
class  scolarship.     He  received  the  degree  of 
A.  B.  from  the  University  of  Chicago,  in 
1899,  being  the  class  orator,  and  won  sev- 
c.  f.  yoder  eral  valuable  scholarships.     He  is  at  present 

doing  post-graduate  work  at  the  same  in- 
stitution. He  is  president  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation of  Chicago,  and  in  charge  of  the  intercollegiate  debates. 
In  church  relations  he  is  pastor  of  Fairview  and  Warsaw 
churches,  Indiana,  and  elder  at  Goshen,  Auburn  Junction,  and 
Dutchtown. 

He  is  also  author  of  "Notes  on  Christian  Endeavor  Topics,"  in 
the  Brethren  Evangelist,  "The  Gospel  of  Giving,"  a  small  book 
of  poems,  and  several  tracts.     (Portrait  383.) 


CHAPTER    XVII 
KINDRED   FRATERNITIES 

THE  MORAVIANS. 

Herrnhut  is  a  small  town  in  the  Saxon  province  of  Upper  Lusa- 
tia,  the  original  and  principal  seat  of  the  Moravian  brethren.  It 
was  founded  in  1722,  by  Count  Zinzendorf.  Herrnhut  is  a  neat, 
modern-looking  town,  of  about  one  thousand  one  hundred  inhab- 
itants. It  is,  like  most  German  towns,  built  with  streets  crossing 
at  right  angles,  and  of  white  houses.  In  a  spacious  square  stands 
the  little  inn,  the  meeting-house,  the  Single  Brethren's  House, 
and  other  buildings  belonging  to  the  community.  The  Single 
Sisters'  House  stands  also  near,  facing  the  lower  end,  or  rather 
front,  of  the  church.  Many  private  families  live  in  their  own 
separate  houses.  All  is  extremely  neat,  clean,  and  profoundly 
quiet.  Few  people  are,  at  any  time,  seen  going  to  or  fro,  and 
such  a  thing  as  a  child  playing  in  the  street  is  not  to  be  seen.  In 
respect  to  their  education,  they  are  very  strict  in  their  notions ; 
and  children,  like  John  Wesley,  are  probably  "taught  to  fear  the 
rod,  and  cry  softly."  At  all  events,  they  are  not  allowed  to  play 
in  the  street,  and  you  hear  so  little  of  them  playing  anywhere  that 
you  would  be  inclined,  if  you  did  not  meet  some  under  the  care 
of  nurses  in  the  walks  and  gardens,  to  believe  that  there  were  none, 
or,  as  has  actually  been  the  case  here  once,  only  one  child  born  in 
the  year.  A  profound  silence  hovers  over  the  whole  place,  and 
it  is  amazing  that  so  many  active  persons  should  go  forth  to  all 
parts  of  the  world  from  a  center  which  seems  the  very  center  of 
the  realms  of  sleep.  They  call  it  themselves  life  in  stillness.  We 
went  through  the  Brethren's  and  Sisters'  House,  and  were  much 
pleased  with  the  quietude  and  neatness  of  everything.  It  was 
interesting  to  see,  in  both  houses,  persons  who  had  been  into  dis- 
tant and  very  different  parts  of  the  world,  into  the  hottest  and 
coldest  regions,  in  the  missionary  cause,  and  the  children  of  mis- 
sionaries, who  had  been  born  among  the  Kaffirs  or  the  Esqui- 

(759) 


;6o  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

maux.  Each  community  had  its  common  dining-room,  where  they 
all  dined,  but  at  three  different  tables,  each  at  a  different  rate  of 
charge,  so  as  to  accommodate  all  persons.  Poverty  among  them 
is  no  disgrace,  except  as  the  result  of  indolence  or  imprudence. 
Each  community  has  its  prayer-room.  Music  is  much  cultivated 
among  them,  and  we  observed  in  every  room  appropriated  to  pub- 
lic or  private  worship  an  organ  or  a  piano  ;  and  in  every  sitting- 
room  that  we  entered  was  a  violin,  a  guitar,  or  a  flute. 

It  was  amazing  to  see  the  sleeping-room  of  the  women,  which, 
like  the  dining-room,  was  for  general  use,  and  stocked  with  a 
host  of  little  German  beds,  each  for  one  person.  The  women,  in 
their  little  white  muslin  caps,  had  a  certain  resemblance  to  Friends, 
but  were  distinguished  into  married  and  unmarried  by  the  ribbons 
which  tied  their  caps  being  of  different  colors.  The  young  girls 
had  deep  red  ;  the  unmarried  women,  pink  ;  the  married  women, 
blue;  and  the  widows,  white  or  gray.  In  the  Brethren's  House 
is  a  very  excellent  collection  of  stuffed  birds,  and  other  objects 
of  natural  history,  which  missionaries  from  different  countries 
have  enriched.  Their  church  very  much  resembles  a  Friends' 
meeting-house ;  there  are  no  pews,  but  plain  benches,  the  men  and 
women,  like  the  Friends,  sitting  apart.  They  had  a  chair  and 
desk  for  the  preacher,  and  an  organ,  distinguishing  the  place 
from  a  meeting-house  of  Friends.  Indeed,  very  different  to  the 
Friends,  they  have  an  intense  love  of  music,  and  preach,  pray, 
and  sing,  at  stated  times.  The  person  who  presided  gave  out  the 
hymn  sitting,  and  the  whole  company  singing  in  the  same  posi- 
tion. They  have,  too,  their  love-feasts,  in  imitation  of  the 
Agapae  of  the  early  Christians,  at  which  tea  and  buns  are  handed 
around.  Those  who  entertain  any  enmity  against  each  other 
are  earnestly  warned  to  absent  themselves  from  these  meetings 
till  they  have  rooted  thcoffense  from  their  hearts.  At  the  close  of 
the  communion,  each  brother  renews  his  pledge  of  faithfulness 
to  the  Lord,  and  gives  his  hand  upon  it  to  his  fellow  ;  the  brethren 
kiss  one  another,  and  the  sisters  also  do  the  same  among  them- 
selves. They  may  contract  marriage  by  mutual  agreement,  under 
the  approbation  of  the  elders,  but  they  also  frequently  resort  to  the 


KINDRED    FRATERNITIES.  761 

lot  to  determine  them;  and  nothing  is  more  common  than  for  a 
missionary  to  send  home  requesting  them  to  choose  him  a  wife, 
who  is  thus  selected.  The  damsel  on  whom  the  lot  falls  has  the 
liberty  to  decline  the  match,  if  she  pleases,  but,  as  it  is  regarded 
as  a  clear  indication  of  the  will  of  Providence,  it  is  generally  cheer- 
fully acquiesced  in ;  and  a  young  woman  will  at  once  prepare  her- 
self, on  being  chosen,  to  go  north  or  south — to  the  snowy  fields  of 
Labrador,  or  the  burning  deserts  of  Africa. 

The  Herrnhuters  declare  that  scarcely  an  instance  has  been 
known  in  which  these  marriages  have  not  been  completely  happy 
ones. 

THE  JOHN  A.   BOWMAN  BRETHREN. 

I  am  not  sure  as  to  the  exact  time,  but  believe  it  was  about  1858, 
I  was  present  at  the  meeting  at  Knob  Creek  church,  when  John 
A.  Bowman  was  expelled  from  the  church.  He  was  charged 
with  suing  at  law  a  member  of  the  church  who  refused  to  pay 
a  debt  he  owed  an  estate  of  which  Bowman  was  executor,  and 
had  to  wind  up  the  estate  according  to  law. 

Brother  Bowman  claimed  that  he  was  dealt  with  unjustly,  went 
on  preaching,  and  soon  gathered  around  him  a  church  of  about 
one  hundred  and  thirty  members,  holding  love-feasts,  baptizing 
many,  and  ordaining  a  number  to  the  ministry.  He  was  an  able, 
influential  preacher.  During  the  rebellion  a  rebel  soldier  shot 
Bowman  and  killed  him  instantly  in  his  own  stable.  The  shep- 
herd being  smitten,  many  of  the  members  desired  to  unite  with 
the  mother  church.  This  plea  was  embodied  in  a  request  to 
annual  meeting,  which  sent  a  committee  of  elders  to  East  Tennes- 
see to  investigate  the  case.  After  spending  several  days  among 
their  members  and  those  of  the  old  church,  the  said  committee 
of  elders  decided  that  all  the  Bowman  members  could  be  received 
into  full  fellowship  in  the  old  church  without  rebaptism,  if  they 
would  return  by  the  first  of  the  following  October.  No  con- 
fession required.  There  were  sub-committees  sent  to  visit  each 
and  every  member  of  the  Bowman  fraternity  to  inform  them  of 
the  decision.     I  was  on  one  of  the  committees.     It  had  a  salutarv 


762  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

effect,  as  nearly  all  the  Bowman  members  united  with  the  old 
church  without  rebaptism.  The  love  of  the  great  cause  of  Christ 
permeated  and  influenced  the  whole  transaction,  and  many  faces 
were  bathed  in  tears  and  hearts  leaped  for  joy. 

Written  by  request,  and  facts  stated  according  to  my  best 
recollections.  P.  R.  Wrightsman. 

THE    CONGREGATIONAL   BRETHREN. 

The  Congregational  Brethren  were  mainly  the  offspring  of  the 
Far  Western  Brethren.  After  the  compromise,  there  was  a  lack 
of  compliance  with  its  spirit  and  intent  in  some  of  the  churches, 
which  kept  up  friction  on  the  question  of  feet-washing,  and  also 
on  having  the  supper  on  the  table  before  feet-washing.  Feet- 
washing,  however,  continued  to  be  the  principal  "bone  of  conten- 
tion." This  spread  over  the  whole  country,  but  caused  trouble 
mostly  in  the  west,  where  annual  meeting  influences  came  in 
contact  with  the  former  Far  Western  Brethren,  and  insisted  on  a 
compliance  with  the  general  practice  of  the  church.  This  caused 
the  sending  out  of  many  committees,  and  consequent  confusion 
and  discord.  Many  members  and  some  elders  were  disowned. 
Among  these  were  Elder  I  sham  Gibson  and  his  son,  Andrew  P. 
Gibson.  In  1872  Franklin  Hendricks  and  Daniel  Hendricks 
were  expelled  in  Jasper  County,  Missouri. 

In  Cedar  County  James  Hendricks  was  silenced.  These  pro- 
ceedings were  repeated  in  many  instances.  Those  expelled  or 
silenced  of  course  had  followers.  These  finally  organized  them- 
selves into  Congregational  Churches,  mainly  on  account  of  the 
contention  over  the  question  of  the  mode  of  feet-washing. 

FAR  WESTERN  BRETHREN. 

About  the  year  1760,  Elder  Daniel  Letterman  and  Casper  Row- 
land, from  Germantown,  emigrated  to  the  Carolinas,  and  there 
met  with  some  members.  Among  them  were  John  Hendricks, 
David  Martin,  Giles  Chapman,  and  Joseph  Rodgers.  They 
pressed  northward  into  Kentucky.  Joseph  Rodgers  was  the 
first  man  that  preached  the  gospel  in  the  wilds  of  Kentucky. 


KINDRED    FRATERNITIES.  76 


They  were  joined  by  others  from  Ohio,  Virginia,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. Prominent  among  them  were  George  Wolfe,  Sr.,  Adam 
Hochstetler,  Benjamin  Hoffman,  and  Francis  Stump.  The  lat- 
ter was  a  descendant  of  Elder  Peter  Becker,  of  Germantown, 
Pennsylvania.  Kentucky  held  out  great  inducements,  so  that 
there  was  a  great  influx  of  Brethren.  These,  together  with  the 
zealous  early  settlers,  established  churches  in  various  parts  of  the 
state,  especially  in  Simpson,  Muhlenberg,  and  Shelby  Counties. 
As  these  pioneers  had  originally  come  from  Germantown,  Penn- 
sylvania, they  naturally  established,  in  their  own  churches,  the 
practice  of  the  Germantown  church,  where  feet-washing  was 
always  observed  by  the  single  mode.  Being  disconnected  from 
the  eastern  Brethren,  they  were  for  years  ignorant  of  the  devia- 
tions of  the  church  upon  this  point.  For  many  years  they  pros- 
pered and  grew  without  let  or  hindrance.  Later  on  many  emi- 
grated from  the  eastern  states,  who  had  been  taught  the  double 
mode  of  feet-washing,  which  had,  by  this  time,  been  adopted  by 
the  annual  meeting,  and  was  thus  the  rule  of  the  church.  This 
state  of  affairs  occasioned  confusion  and  discord  in  the  western 
churches.  In  1820  the  annual  meeting  sent  the  first  committee 
to  Hoffman's  in  Muhlenberg  County,  Kentucky.  At  this  council 
seven  propositions  were  discussed,  principal  among  them  time 
and  mode  of  feet-washing,  and  slavery.  The  first  committee  did 
not  accomplish  much.  A  year  or  two  later  another  committee 
of  twelve  members  was  sent  out. 

Among  the  charges  by  the  second  committee  was  non- 
conformity in  dress,  and  too  much  excitement  in  worship,  which 
the  eastern  brethren  regarded  as  "strange  fire." 

This  second  council  was  attended  by  Elders  Wolfe,  Hendricks, 
Rowland,  in  fact,  nearly  all  the  Far  Western  ministering  breth- 
ren. From  1820  to  1826  there  were  several  councils  held,  which 
finally  resulted  in  the  expulsion  of  some  fifteen  hundred  members. 
This  left  the  church  weak  in  Kentucky  then,  and  she  has  never 
recovered  to  this  day. 

These  disowned  brethren  dispersed  to  different  parts  of  the 
country,  some  to  Tennessee,  some  to  Missouri,  and  to  the  terri- 


764  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

tory  of  Illinois,  and  to  the  Black  Hawk  country,  now  Iowa.  They 
planted  churches  in  all  these  different  parts,  which  were  still 
known  as  the  Far  Western  Brethren.  Among  them  were  some 
able  and  renowned  ministers  and  evangelists,  such  as  I  sham 
Gibson,  Dr.  D.  B.  Sturgis,  Jacob  Wolfe,  the  two  George  Wolfes, 
C.  Shank,  A.  McClintock. 

Annual  meeting  influences  also  spread  over  the  west,  and  soon 
the  two  parties  again  came  into  conflict.  In  1850,  or  possibly 
earlier,  there  were  efforts  made  to  effect  a  union  between  the  two 
parties,  but  as  annual  meeting  insisted  upon  a  strict  compliance 
with  the  order,  the  first  effort  was  ineffectual.  Repeated  efforts 
were  made  to  effect  a  union.  In  1855  annual  meeting  again 
appointed  a  committee  of  eleven  elders  to  investigate  the  differ- 
ence in  doctrine  and  practice  between  the  two  parties.  At  this 
meeting  both  parties  agreed  to  compromise  as  follows : — 

When  the  western  brethren  communed  with  the  annual  meet- 
ing party  the  double  mode  of  feet-washing  should  be  observed, 
but  when  the  western  brethren  were  among  themselves,  they 
could  continue  to  observe  the  ordinance  by  the  single  mode. 

Four  of  the  committee  refused  to  sign  the  compromise,  so  that 
there  was  no  perfect  union  until,  in  1859,  annual  meeting  granted 
a  full  and  complete  recognition  of  the  Far  Western  Brethren. 
This,  of  course,  was  only  a  declaration  of  principles,  not  the 
consummation  of  the  object,  as  subsequent  history  shows. 

The  following  additional  information  in  regard  to  the  history 
of  the  Far  Western  Brethren  was  compiled  by  Elder  H.  W. 
Strickler,  from  the  diary  of  Elder  John  Klingingsmith,  from 
which  the  author  says  many  additional  items  of  interest  might  be 
gleaned : — 

"In  1787  Elder  George  Wolfe,  father  of  Elder  George  Wrolfe 
of  Liberty,  moved  from  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  to 
Fayette  County,  same  state.  In  the  year  1800  he  moved  to  Logan 
County,  Kentucky.  In  the  year  1809,  on  his  return  home  from  a 
preaching  tour  in  southeast  Missouri  and  Illinois,  he  took  sick  and 
died,  at  the  old  town  of  Kaska,  Illinois.  This  was  the  first  death 
of  a  Tunker  known  in  the  state.     His  sons,  Jacob  and  George 


KINDRED    FRATERNITIES.  765 

Wolfe,  were  then  living  in  Union  County,  Illinois.  In  182 1 
George  Wolfe,  his  wife,  and  twelve  others  were  baptized  in  Clear 
Creek,  Union  County,  Illinois,  by  Elder  John  Hendricks.  These 
were  the  first  baptized  in  Illinois,  and  in  the  same  year  George 
Wolfe  was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  Jacob  Wolfe  and  George 
Davis  to  the  deacon's  office,  under  the  supervision  of  Elder 
Hendricks. 

"In  the  spring  of  1813,  Elder  Hendricks  died.  In  the  same 
year  Elders  Adam  Hostetler  and  Hawn,  of  Kentucky,  came  and 
ordained  George  Wolfe  to  the  eldership  in  Union  County,  Illinois. 
This  was  the  first  Tunker  ordination  known  in  the  state.  Soon 
after  this  Hostetler  and  Hawn  began  to  preach  strange  doctrine, 
and  were  afterward  expelled. 

"The  first  Brethren  found  in  Missouri  were  Peter  Baker,  John 
Miller,  and  Joseph  Nis winger,  who  came  from  North  Carolina, 
and  Daniel  Clingingsmith,  from  Pennsylvania,  all  of  whom 
moved  there  in  1795.  Daniel  Clingingsmith,  father  of  Elder 
John  Clingingsmith,  got  a  Spanish  land  grant,  as  the  Spaniards 
then  owned  the  country. 

"Elder  John  Hendricks  was  the  first  Tunker  minister  that  ever 
preached  in  Missouri,  and  Elder  Peter  Baker  was  the-first  brother 
buried  in  the  state,  who  died  in  1810,  and  Brother  Isaac  the  first 
one  baptized  there. 

"The  first  communion  in  Missouri  was  held  at  the  house  of 
Brother  Joseph  Xiswinger,  in  1810,  superintended  by  Elder  John 
Hendricks. 

"James  Hendricks,  son  of  Elder  John  Hendricks,  was  ordained 
to  the  eldership  on  Whitewater  Creek,  Cape  Girardeau  County. 
Missouri,  October  18,  181 8,  by  Elder  George  Wolfe,  of  Union 
County,  Illinois.  This  was  the  first  ordination  in  Missouri  by  the 
brethren.  In  1824  there  were  fifty  communicants  in  this  county. 
This  was  about  forty  miles  from  the  brethren  in  Union  County, 
Illinois.  These  brethren  washed  feet  after  supper  and  before 
the  communion.  The  sisters  broke  the  bread  and  passed  the  cup 
of  communion  the  same  as  the  brethren.  They  omitted  the  read- 
ing of  a  chapter  between  the  supper  and  the  communion,  and 


766  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

passed  the  salutation  after' the  communion  as  a  farewell  token  of 
love. 

"In  the  year  1820  there  was  a  council  called  in  Kentucky,  on 
the  subject  of  feet-washing,  at  which  some  elders  from  eastern 
Pennsylvania  were  present,  and  Elder  George  Wolfe,  of  Illinois, 
and  Elder  James  Hendricks,  of  Missouri,  were  also  there.  At 
said  council  meeting  it  was  agreed  that  the  Far  Western  Brethren 
should  go  on  in  their  way  until  they  could  see  different.  Soon 
after  this  these  Kentucky  brethren  went  off  with  Hostetler  and 
Hawn. 

"This  was  the  last  conference  between  the  Far  Western  Breth- 
ren and  the  eastern  brethren  until  1855,  when  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  visit  the  western  brethren,  May  8,  1856.  Said  com- 
mittee met  the  western  brethren  in  their  meeting-house  near 
Liberty,  Adams  County,  Illinois,  in  which  was  another  com- 
promise with  them.      (See  revised  minutes,  pages  341-345.) 

"In  the  year  1827  a  number  of  brethren  moved  from  Union 
County  to  Adams  County,  Illinois.  Among  them  were  the 
Hunsakers  and  William  Lierle,  father  of  William  R.  Lierle.  In 
1 83 1  Elder  George  Wolfe  came  from  Union  County,  Illinois.  In 
the  fall  of  1831,  they  had  their  first  love-feast  in  the  county  at  the 
house  of  John  Wigles.  While  on  his  rounds  of  preaching,  Elder 
Wolfe  found  Elder  Isham  Gibson,  in  Morgan  County,  Illinois. 
About  this  time  Elder  George  Wolfe,  Jr.  (nephew  of  Elder  George 
Wolfe,  of  Liberty),  came  from  Iowa,  and  in  1849  ne  moved  to 
California,  where  he  died  July  23,  1887. 

"On  April  20,  1850,  Brother  Wm.  R.  Lierle  was  chosen  to  the 
ministry. 

"In  the  year  1861  David  Wolfe,  son  of  Elder  George  Wolfe,  of 
Liberty,  Illinois,  was  called  to  the  ministry,  and  was  ordained  to 
the  eldership  in  1864,  by  Elders  Ishim  Gibson  and  John  Fitz. 
This  Ishim  Gibson  was  ordained  on  Stanes  River,  Rutherford 
County,  Tennessee,  May  28,  1826,  by  Joseph  Rolland.*  Elder 
Rolland  was  ordained  April  I,  t8oo,  in  South  Carolina,  by  Elder 
David  Martin,  who  was  ordained  by  Daniel  Leatherman,  of  Penn- 


*  Attest:  Abraham  Welty. 


KINDRED    FRATERNITIES.  767 

svlvania,  and  he  was  ordained  by  Alexander  Mack,  of  Europe. 

"In  1834  Daniel  Clingingsmith  moved  from  Cape  Girardeau 
County,  Missouri,  to  Hadley  Creek  Township,  Pike  County, 
Illinois,  and  died  in  1835. 

"About  this  time  other  brethren  moved  in.  This  was  the 
beginning-  of  the  Hadly  Creek  church. 

"In  1842  John  Clingingsmith  was  baptized  in  Pike  County, 
Illinois.  In  1844  he  was  chosen  to  the  office  of  deacon.  On 
the  24th  of  October,  1874,  he  was  forwarded  to  the  ministry, 
and  on  the  6th  of  December,  1882,  he  was  ordained  to  the  elder- 
ship by  Elders  Daniel  Vaniman  and  H.  W.  Strickler,  of  Illinois, 
and  he  died  June  13,  1887." 

THE  LEEDY  BRETHREN. 

No  discredit  was  intended,  nor  could  any  be  attached  to  the 
people  for  being  called  after  individuals,  in  the  case  now  under 
consideration.  In  the  first  place  the  people  themselves  were  a 
credit  to  their  name,  and  secondly  the  organization  was  almost 
exclusively  made  up  of  families  bearing  the  title.  This  was 
mainly  accidental,  and  partly  circumstantial.  Persons  belonging 
to  the  same  families  are  more  likely  to  associate  with  each  other 
and  to  converse  upon  social  and  religious  questions,  and  there- 
fore more  likely  to  fall  in  with  the  same  idea,  especially  where 
the  religious  subject  is  the  chief  topic  of  discussion.  Besides  this 
there  is  a  bond  of  sympathy  and  sociability  in  consanguinity, 
which  forms  very  strong  attachments. 

The  Owl  Creek  congregation  of  the  Tunker  Church  is  one 
among  the  oldest  in  the  state  of  Ohio.  I  am  unable  to  give  the  ex- 
act date  of  its  organization,  but  it  is  an  established  fact  that  a  Tun- 
ker settlement  existed  in  Knox  County  as  early  as  181 1,  and  that 
the  Leedys  were  among  the  first  settlers.  They  removed  from 
Morrison's  Cove  and  other  parts  of  Bedford  County,  Pennsylvania. 
They  had  either  inherited  the  progressive  idea,  or  developed  it  by 
diligent  study  of  the  Word  of  God,  for  as  early  as  1856  they 
began  to  agitate  a  reform  movement  in  the  church  in  favor  of  the 


768  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

single  mode  of  feet-washing,  and  a  few  other  points  in  which  it 
appeared  to  them  reformation  was  required. 

In  the  autumn  of  1858  a  trouble  began  to  take  form,  and  was 
brought  to  a  focus  at  a  church  business  meeting,  which  had  been 
called  to  prepare  for  the  annual  communion  meeting.  At  this 
meeting  the  following  question  was  submitted  to  the  church : 
''Shall  we  continue  the  old  order  in  the  observance  of  the  ordi- 
nance of  feet-washing,  or  follow  the  example  of  Christ?"  Only 
flve  members  voted  in  favor  of  the  order.  However,  through  the 
influence  of  adjoining  elders,  the  decision  of  the  church  was 
ignored,  and  the  double  mode  continued.  Those  who  had  voted 
for  the  gospel  mode  were  cited  to  appear  before  a  committee  of 
elders  on  September  14,  1858. 

At  this  meeting  the  reform  movement  was  advocated  by 
Abraham  Holsinger  Leedy,  Samuel  A.  Leedy,  and  Isaac  Leedy ; 
but  we  are  not  told  who  or  how  many  championed  the  side  of 
the  old  order.  The  decision  rendered  by  the  committee  was  to 
the  effect  that  all  those  who  had  voted  in  favor  of  the  single  mode 
of  feet-washing,  could  not  be  held  in  full  communion  with  the 
church,  and  the  expulsion  direct  of  Samuel  A.  Leedy,  and  silenc- 
ing of  A.  H.  Leedy  until  he  should  recant.  Brother  A.  H.  Leedy 
weakened  at  the  thought  of  expulsion,  and  soon  after  recanted, 
and  was  restored  to  his  official  capacity. 

The  matter  was  then  referred  to  annual  meeting,  which  sent  the 
following  committee  to  the  Owl  Creek  church : — 

Elias  Dicky,  Jacob  Gerber,  Peter  Nead,  Daniel  Miller,  John 
Metzger,  and  Henry  D.  Davy. 

The  committee  convened  on  September  14,  1858.  This  solemn 
occasion  had  increased  solemnity  from  the  fact  that  during  that 
day  Elder  John  Multzbaugh,  who  had  been  one  of  the  principal 
parties  in  bringing  the  charge  against  the  members,  had  died. 

The  question  presented  to  the  membership  was  put  in  the  fol- 
lowing language :  "Are  you  satisfied  with  the  order  of  the  breth- 
ren, and  with  the  decision  of  the  committee?"  This  question 
was  put  to  each  member  in  a  private  room,  before  the  committee 
only,  without  a  discussion  of  the  subject,  or  the  defendants  hav- 


KINDRED    FRATERNITIES.  769 

ing  had  the  privilege  of  hearing  the  testimony  of  witnesses.  This 
was  in  direct  violation  of  one  of  their  own  rules,  to  which  Elder 
Isaac  Leedy  called  their  attention,  all  to  no  effect,  however.  All 
who  did  not  give  an  affirmative  answer  to  the  question  were 
requested  to  withdraw.  In  their  absence  their  case  was  decided. 
They  were  called  in,  and  the  verdict  read,  "You  are  disowned  for 
refusing  to  hear  the  church."  When  they  inquired  when  and 
where  they  had  refused  to  hear  the  church,  the  committee  was 
speechless,  until  Elder  H.  D.  Davy  whispered  to  the  foreman, 
"The  standing  committee  of  annual  meeting  is  the  church." 

Following  is  a  list  of  those  who  were  disowned :  Daniel  Leedy, 
Abraham  Leedy  and  wife,  Samuel  A.  Leedy  and  wife,  David 
Leedy  and  wife,  Abraham  Long  and  wife,  David  Garber  and 
wife,  Isaac  Leedy  and  wife,  Mrs.  Samuel  Whistler  and  daughter. 
Among  the  members  were  one  minister,  three  deacons,  and  the 
treasurer,  with  the  contents  of  the  treasury.  The  church  funds 
were  appropriated  to  the  relief  of  the  famine-stricken  people  of 
Kansas. 

In  response  to  the  report  of  the  committee  the  annual  meeting 
of  1859  replied :  "We  consider  it  best  that  the  brethren,  in  meek- 
ness and  patience,  wait  for  the  further  manifestation  of  the  will 
of  God  upon  the  matter."  And  it  was  recommended  that  the  case 
be  remembered  by  the  brethren  in  general  in  prayer. 

Samuel  Whistler,  a  member  of  the  River  Brethren,  united  with 
them  soon  after,  and  was  chosen  to  the  ministry  at  the  same  time 
when   Isaac  Leedy   was   ordained   to  the   eldership. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  this  church  division  was  of  a  local  char- 
acter, the  Leedy  Brethren  found  it  difficult  to  make  much  prog- 
ress, although  they  were  diligent  in  their  duties.  However,  they 
had  several  small  congregations  at  different  places, — one  in  Han- 
cock County,  and  one  in  Logan  County,  Ohio,  and  one  in  Whitley 
County,  Indiana,  as  well  as  one  or  two  organizations  in  Missouri. 
The  ministers  not  named  above  were,  Jacob  A.  Leedy,  Simon  B. 
Leedy,  and  Peter  Deetrick.  The  Leedy  Brethren  were  the 
stronger  element  at  North  Liberty  and  Ankenytown,  and  were 
fully  organized  when  the  consolidation  was  effected  and  a  Breth- 

49 


77°  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

ren  Church  established.  Circumstances,  however,  appeared  to 
demand  an  entire  reorganization.  Accordingly,  a  joint  council 
was  held  to  investigate  the  difference  between  the  two  elements, 
on  Wednesday,  October  4,  1882.  At  this  meeting  the  following 
paper  was  presented: — 

"On  opening  the  meeting  for  the  business  of  the  day,  it  was 
found  that  the  Leedy  Brethren  differ  from  the  Brethren  in  three 
points : — 

"1.  The  Leedy  Brethren  omit  the  use  of  the  Lord's  prayer, 
holding  that  its  use  in  all  our  meetings  is  not  essential  to  Chris- 
tian worship,  that  its  use  is  not  binding,  neither  is  it  objectional. 

"2.  That  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  composed  in  part  of 
lamb's  flesh,  to  the  prohibition  of  all  other  meats. 

"3.  That  no  questions  should  be  asked  of  believers  while 
kneeling  in  the  baptismal  waters.  All  questions  should  be  asked 
before. 

"On  the  first  difference  the .  Leedy  Brethren  consented  to  a 
more  extended  use  of  the  Lord's  prayer  in  worship.  They  had 
used  it  occasionally,  and  when  worshiping  with  us  would  adopt 
its  more  general  repetition.  The  brethren,  too,  think  its  use 
twice  in  every  service  not  essential.  They  recommend  its  repe- 
tition once  at  each  service,  however. 

"Of  the  second  difference,  the  brethren  do  not  make  the  use 
of  lamb's  flesh  at  the  Lord's  Supper  a  condition.  They  teach  that 
the  holding  of  the  supper  is  more  essential  than  the  material  of 
which  it  is  composed.  They  have  no  objections  to  the  use  of 
lamb's  flesh  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  could  allow  the  Leedy 
Brethren  the  privilege  of  choice.  They,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
willing,  when  they  visit  other  congregations,  and  other  food  than 
lamb's  flesh  is  used,  to  forego  their  preference,  and  allow  our 
practice. 

"The  last  difference  was  considered  that  the  only  essential 
element  involved  in  the  question  was  that  the  faith  of  the  believer 
be  examined  into.  It  could  be  done  either  in  or  out  of  the 
water." 

Thereupon  the  consolidation    was  completed,  and    the    Leedy 


KINDRED     FRATERNITIES.  771 

Brethren  and  the  Progressive  Brethren  ceased  to  exist,  and  the 
Brethren  Church  of  North  Liberty  and  Ankenytown  was  organ- 
ized. 

OIMANITES. 

In  the  history  of  the  brethren  we  observe  that,  at  different 
times  and  in  various  places,  there  have  been  withdrawals  from 
the  body,  and  the  effecting  of  separate  organizations.  Among 
these  we  find  the  Oimanites,  or  New  Tunkers. 

About  1845  Peter  Oiman  began  to  express  dissatisfaction  with 
some  of  the  teachings  and  practices  of  the  church.  He  lived  in 
Carroll  County,  Indiana,  and  is  said  to  have  been  a  man  of  con- 
siderable talent  and  influence,  and  was  an  elder  in  the  church. 

At  first  he  took  exceptions  -to  the  asking  of  the  candidate  for 
baptism  questions  when  in  the  water,  and  he  advocated  the  single 
mode  of  feet-washing.  He  held  that  the  Lord's  Supper  should 
be  on  the  table  at  the  time  of  feet-washing,  and  he  also  opposed 
the  restrictions  in  the  order  in  dress. 

Elder  Oiman  was  not  alone  in  the  holding  of  these  views. 
Among  those  who  stood  with  him,  was  George  Patten,  a  young 
minister  of  notable  talent,  who  lived  in  another  district. 

As  is  usual  under  such  circumstances,  there  was  some  trouble, 
and  there  were  efforts  made  to  harmonize  and  adjust,  but  the 
efforts  were  futile,  and  the  result  was  the  organization  of  the 
body  known  as  Oimanites. 

In  a  few  years  after  their  organization,  Elder  Oiman  died,  and 
their  condition  seemed  somewhat  discouraging,  but  there  was  a 
revival.  After  some  time  they  adopted  single  backward  immer- 
sion. At  the  time  of  communion  they  retain  the  table,  but  have 
no  meal.  They  observe  feet-washing  and  the  salutation  of  the 
kiss  at  that  time.  They  have  open  communion.  They  do  not 
oppose  the  legal  oath,  and  they  allow  members  to  belong  to  any 
or  all  secret  societies.     They  have  no  restrictions  in  dress. 

In  1887  they  claimed  a  membership  of  five  or  six  hundred  in 
Carroll,  Clinton,  and  White  Counties,  Indiana.  It  is  said  that 
they  and  the  church  known  as  Winebrennarians  have  effected  a 


772  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

union,  and  that,  of  late  years,  they  are  increasing  in  numbers 
more  rapidly  than  at  first. 

HONITES. 

For  data  for  the  following  brief  history  of  a  brief  sect,  we  are 
indebted  to  Elder  Landon  West,  of  Lanier,  Ohio. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  a  number  of 
brethren  came  from  Virginia  to  Kentucky,  and  there  formed  a 
settlement,  and  for  a  time  were  in  an  organized  church. 

Among  their  ministry  was  Peter  Hon,  who  was  regarded  as 
an  able  man  among  them,  and  whose  appeals  to  the  sympathy  of 
his  hearers  aroused  great  interest  wherever  he  went. 

He  came  over  to  Ohio  as  early  as  1820,  and  preached  in  Adams 
and  Highland  Counties,  and  soon  there  was  quite  a  feeling  for 
him  there. 

During  one  of  his  visits,  he  preached  that  the  supper  partaken 
of  by  the  brethren  at  the  love-feast  was  the  Jewish  Passover, 
and  that  Jesus  ate  the  Jewish  Passover  on  the  night  of  His 
betrayal.  At  the  close  of  his  sermon  on  this  subject  he  extended 
an  invitation  to  all  who  regarded  the  matter  as  he  had  preached 
it,  and  felt  to  unite  with  him,  to  arise  and  come  forward,  and  give 
him  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  John  Countryman,  a  speaker, 
arose  and  gave  Hon  the  right  hand,  but  when  it  was  seen  that  no 
more  of  the  congregation  were  united  with  Hoirs  preaching, 
Countryman  recanted,  and  refused  to  go  any  farther  in  Hon's 
movement. 

This  severed  Hon's  connection  with  the  churches  of  southern 
Ohio,  but  he  still  continued  to  come  one  or  more  times  each  year, 
and  whenever  an  opening  was  seen  there  he  worked,  until  a  sep- 
arate body  called  the  Honites  was  organized,  about  1830.  The 
only  difference  at  first  betwixt  them  and  the  main  body  was,  one 
ate  a  supper  at  the  time  of  communion,  and  the  other  did  not, 
believing  it  to  commemorate  the  Jewish  Passover.  Hon  preached 
the  doctrines  of  the  brethren  as  strongly  as  before,  with  the  one 
exception  above  named,  and  for  some  time,  but  with  little  success. 
Soon,  however,  he  laid  aside  trine  immersion  and  adopted  single 


KINDRED     FRATERNITIES.  773 

immersion,  which  gave  a  new  move  to  the  work,  and  soon  a  large 
body  was  formed,  and  meetings  were  held  in  different  places. 

Two  young  members  were  chosen  to  the  ministry,  in  the  time 
of  the  church's  glory,  in  order  that  preaching  might  be  done  while 
Hon  was  at  his  home  in  Kentucky,  or  at  other  points  in  Ohio,  and 
these  young  men  soon  threatened  to  sweep  the  world.  But  jeal- 
ousy began,  and  then  division,  then  strife,  and  at  last  ruin. 

THE   RIVER   BRETHREN. 

The  River  Brethren  are  a  denomination  the  exact  date  of 
whose  organization  could  not  be  learned.  It  must  have  occurred 
early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  certainly  existed  as  early  as 
1817.  Brother  Jacob  Stehman,  a  reputable  Tunker  of  Lancaster 
County,  Pennsylvania,  wrote  to  the  author  of  this  work  in  1866, 
saying  that  he  had  frequently  heard  Hans  and  Jacob  Engle 
preach  as  early  as  1817,  and  was  personally  acquainted  with  both 
of  them.  The  Engles  were  among  the  founders  of  the  church, 
hence  they  could  not  have  been  organized  long  before  the  year 
1800. 

The  founders  of  the  sect  had  previously  belonged  to  the 
Mennonites.  Living  in  the  community  of  Tunkers,  they  were, 
no  doubt,  influenced  by  them,  since  in  doctrine  and  practice 
they  are  very  similar.  They  observe  baptism  by  triune,  face- 
forward  immersion,  which  entitles  them  to  the  name  of  Tunker 
Brethren,  but  differ  from  the  other  Tunkers  in  that  they  do  not 
baptize  for  the  remission  of  sins.  It  is  claimed  by  them  that  the 
cause  of  their  not  uniting  with  the  Germantown  Tunkers  was 
because  they  lacked  in  spirituality,  and  that  the  Germantown 
brethren  had  refused  to  baptize  the  Engles  and  other  founders 
of  the  River  Brethren  because  they  would  not  promise  to  unite 
with  their  church.  They  are  very  enthusiastic  in  their  devotions, 
and  some  congregations  use  the  mourners-bench  system  of  con- 
version. They  discard  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  eat  a  common 
meal  immediately  preceding  the  service  of  feet-washing  and  the 
communion. 

They  adopted  the  name  Brethren  in  Christ,  and  were  also 
called  the  New  Brethren,  in  contradistinction  of  the  Old  Breth- 
ren ;  and  as  the  founders  lived  near  the  Susquehanna  River,  they 
were  frequently  referred  to  as  the  Brethren  at  the  River,  and 
from  that  to  the  River  Brethren.  They  are  divided  into  several 
different  sects,  differing  in  minor  points  only,  and  are  found  in 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
and  probably  in  other  western  states. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

EPISTOLARY    HISTORY 

We  have  learned  something  of  the  history  and  character  of  our 
old  brethren  from  a  number  of  letters  which  they  wrote  to  each 
other,  in  which  they  relate  their  troubles  and  trials,  copies  of 
which  I  had  the  pleasure  of  perusing. 

ALEXANDER    MACK,    JR.,    TO    VALENTINE    MACK. 

In  a  letter  from  Alexander  Mack,  Jr.,  to  his  brother  Valentine, 
dated  August  29,  1748,  it  is  intimated  that  Valentine  had  invited 
Alexander  to  make  his  home  with  him.  In  reply  the  writer  freely 
admits  his  poverty,  and  recognizes  his  brother's  generosity,  but 
still  declines  to  accept  his  proffered  home.  In  declining  he 
indulges  in  a  bit  of  irony,  or,  possibly,  a  play  of  words,  under- 
stood best  by  themselves.  We  translate  the  following :  "When  a 
poor  man  enters  a  game  of  chance  with  a  rich  man,  it  will  be 
well  for  the  rich  man  to  be  on  his  guard,  lest  the  poor  man  should 
be  the  winner."  We  presume  the  moral  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
poor  has  nothing  to  lose.  Then  he  acknowledges  that  if  he 
should  commence  to  learn  wisdom  from  his  bitter  experience  in 
the  loss  of  his  property,  it  could,  verily,  not  be  a  day  too  soon. 

In  referring  to  a  misrepresentation  of  a  certain  matter  by  a 
person  named  in  the  letter,  he  says  he  is  not  at  all  astonished  at 
the  statement,  coming  from  the  source  it  does.  The  person  had 
before  spoken  of  the  matter  in  words  so  far  above  that  which  it 
deserved,  that  he  thought  he  must  now  speak  of  it  in  correspond- 
ing disparagement.  And  if  he  should  ever  get  the  story  to  corre- 
spond with  the  facts  in  the  case,  it  should  be  attributed  to  the 
interposition  of  a  merciful  providence,  and  not  to  the  good  sense 
of  the  slanderous  reporter.  "For,"  he  continues,  "people  are  dis- 
posed to  err,  either  by  praising  or  censuring.  When,  however, 
we  learn  to  know  ourselves,  we  will  be  disposed  to  take  things 
as  they  are,  knowing  that  we  can  make  them  neither  better  nor 
worse." 

(774) 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  775 

Then  we  learn  by  implication  that  Valentine  had  written  him 
that  he  (Alexander)  need  not  be  afraid  of  the  brethren  of 
Ephratah,  as  they  were  daily  growing  in  godly  simplicity  and 
humility.  To  this  Alexander  replied  that  he  was  glad  to  hear  it, 
and  satirically  remarks  that  then  he  certainly  need  not  be  afraid 
of  them  at  Germantown,  which  is  at  a  still  safer  distance  than  if 
he  would  live  with  his  brother  at  Ephratah.  He  concludes  his 
letter  with  the  quotation,  ''Perfect  love  casteth  out  fear." 

From  another  letter  we  learn  that  one  of  the  brethren  was 
considered  blameworthy  for  having  taken  out  naturalization 
papers.  We  suppose  it  was  upon  the  presumption  that  he  would 
thereby  contaminate  himself  with  the  kingdoms  of  this  world. 

JOHN    HILDEBRAND   TO    C.    SAUR   AND   A.    MACK. 

John  Hildebrand  wrote  a  letter  at  Ephratah,  date,  December 
20,  1759,  to  Christopher  Saur  and  Alexander  Mack.  In  this 
letter  he  speaks  in  very  complimentary  terms  of  a  manuscript 
book  written  by  Valentine  Mack.  It  was  entitled  "Geistlicher 
Tagweiser  der  Sieben  Tage,  dcs  Meuschlichen  Baumes"  or  "A 
Mystical  Time  Reckoning,  with  Other  Explanatory  Titles." 
Hildebrand  was  very  anxious  to  have  the  work  published,  and 
suggests  a  plan  by  which  it  might  be  accomplished.  From  his 
description  of  the  work  it  is  evident  that  the  author  was  consid- 
erably tinctured  with  Milleriteism.  According  to  his  reckoning, 
the  present  dispensation  would  have  closed  with  the  year  1777, 
but  the  year  with  the  three  sevens,  as  .well  as  its  centennial  coun- 
terpart of  three  eights,  has  long  since  passed,  and  the  end  is  not 
yet,  and  the  world  still  wags  on  in  the  even  tenor  of  its  way. 

MICHAEL  PFAUTZ  TO  M.  URNER  AND  A.  MACK. 

Brother  Michael  Pfautz  writes  from  Pipe  Creek,  Maryland, 
December  9,  1794,  addressed  to  Martin  Urner  and  Alexander 
Mack.  In  this  letter  he  refers  to  the  deep  interest  that  was  being 
felt  in  the  big  meeting  of  that  year.  It  was  held  in  Virginia  in 
the  month  of  October.  It  appears  that  a  Brother  Sturtzman,  of 
Carolina,  had  sent  a  letter  with  Brethren  John  Garber  and  Jehu 


776  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Burgert  to  the  conference,  setting  forth  certain  troubles  in  the 
church  in  the  south.  Some  brethren  had  conceived  heterodox 
views,  which  the  majority  of  the  church  could  not  fellowship. 
These  errors  appear  in  the  following  statements : — 

1.  That  there  is  no  other  heaven  than  that  in  man. 

2.  That  there  is  no  other  hell  but  that  in  man. 

3.  That  God  has  no  form  or  shape,  and  that  if  a  person  should 
worship  God,  with  the  idea  of  form  in  His  mind,  such  person 
would  be  guilty  of  idolatry. 

4.  That  God  has  no  anger,  and  will  punish  no  person  on 
account  of  his  sins. 

5.  That  the  dead  rise  not;  out  of  the  grave  nothing  will  come 
forth. 

6.  That  they  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  ban. 

In  reply  the  conference  gave  the  following  decisions,  in  sub- 
stance : — 

1.  In  regard  to  heaven,  Moses  says,  "In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth ;  and  the  earth  was  without 
form  and  void."  That  was  before  the  creation  of  man.  Moses 
therefore  called  something  heaven  that  is  not  in  man.  Again, 
"And  when  He  had  spoken  these  things,  while  they  beheld,  He 
was  taken  up ;  and  a  cloud  received  Him  out  of  their  sight.  And 
while  they  looked  steadfastly  toward  heaven,  as  He  went  up, 
behold,  two  men  stood  by  them  in  white  apparel,  which  also  said, 
Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  gazing  up  into  heaven?  This 
same  Jesus  which  is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so 
come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen  Him  go  into  heaven." 
Here  we  learn  that  there  is  a  heaven  up  on  high. 

2.  About  hell.  In  Luke  16:  22  we  read  that  the  rich  man  died 
and  was  buried.  It  is  without  contradiction  that  after  he  was 
dead  his  soul  and  spirit  had  departed  from  the  body,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  Word,  had  gone  to  hell,  in  which  he  suffered  torments. 
It  is  also  written  that  there  is  a  "lake  which  burneth  with  fire." 
Rev.  21:8.  All  of  this  must  be  outside  of  man.  Again,  Christ 
says,  "Depart  from  Me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  777 

for  the  devil  and  his  angels."     Matt.  25:41.     This  lake  of  fire 
can  not  be  in  man,  but  men  are  cast  into  the  lake. 

3.  God  in  form.  The  Scriptures  inform  us  that  God  is  a 
Spirit,  and  the  true  worshipers  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth.  And  St.  John  tells  us,  "In  the  beginning  was  the  Word, 
and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God."  "And 
the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us,  and  we  beheld 
His  glory."  John  1:1,  14.  Here  God  evidently  had  taken  upon 
Himself  a  visible  form.  However,  man  in  the  worship  of  God 
should  not  have  before  his  mind  any  form  or  likeness ;  neverthe- 
less, if  he  should  happen  to  think  of  the  person  of  Christ,  in 
sincerity  of  devotion,  we  would  not  regard  him  as  guilty  of 
idolatry. 

4.  God's  anger.  "God  is  love,"  and  can  not  be  said  to  be 
angry  as  unconverted  men  are  angry.  Penal  judgments  from 
God  to  the  human  family  are  prompted  through  love  and  not 
through  anger,  although  the  Scriptures  refer  to  God's  judgments 
as  being  the  wrath  of  God.  "Who  knoweth  the  power  of  Thine 
anger,  even  according  to  Thy  fear,  so  is  Thy  wrath."  Ps. 
90:  11.  "He  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life;  but 
the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."     John  3  :  36. 

That  the  Lord  will  punish  no  man  for  his  sins  we  regard  as 
an  error.  Christ  says,  "Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish."     Luke  13:2,  3. 

5.  Resurrection.  On  this  subject  we  believe,  as  the  Scriptures 
teach,  "The  hour  is  coming  in  the  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves 
shall  hear  His  voice,  and  shall  come  forth."  John  5  :  28.  "The 
earth  did  quake,  and  the  rocks  rent,  and  the  graves  were  opened, 
and  many  bodies  of  the  saints  which  slept  arose,  and  came  out 
of  the  graves  after  His  resurrection."     Matt.  27:  51-53. 

6.  The  ban.  (See  Glossary.)  Upon  this  subject  they  made 
the  following  remarkable  declaration:  "We  would  very  readily 
deny  ourselves  so  much  for  our  brethren's  sake  as  to  drop  the 
Jewish  word  'ban ;'  but  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  His 
holy  apostles,  we  can  not  give  up,  even  for  our  brethren's  sake, 
namely,  Tf  any  man  that  is  called  a  brother  be  a  fornicator,  or 


7j8  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

covetous,  or  an  idolator,  or  a  railer,  or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extor- 
tioner ;  with  such  an  one  not  to  eat;  I  Cor.  5:  II.  Here  we  see 
clearly  that  Paul  does  not  mean  eating  the  Lord's  Supper  only, 
but  all  eating  in  His  company.  This  is  shown  very  plainly  in 
the  preceding  verse,  which  says,  'Yet  not  altogether  with  the 
fornicators  of  this  world,  ...  for  then  must  ye  needs  go 
out  of  the  world.'  Otherwise,  we  might  eat  the  bread  of  com- 
munion with  the  fornicators  of  this  world,  which  he  certainly 
could  not  have  meant  at  all."* 

Subscribed  by  the  following  brethren :  J.  Danner,  Jacob  Neff, 
P.  Eisenberg,  H.  Danner,  M.  Garber,  A.  Arnold,  B.  Bowman, 
S.  Garver,  M.  Krause,  Philip  Engle,  John  Glick,  J.  Bowman, 
Daniel  Meyer,  C.  Haser,  Martin  Bower. 

We  have  given  a  full  account  of  the  decisions  of  the  confer- 
ence referred  to,  because  they  dealt  with  subjects  closely  con- 
nected with,  if  not  a  part  of,  the  tenets  of  the  church,  involving 
as  they  do  such  subjects  as  God,  heaven,  hell,  the  proper  relation 
of  church  members  to  each  other,  the  judgments  of  God,  and  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  very  essence  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Also  because  of  the  dignity  of  its  antiquity. 

While  Brother  Pfautz  was  making  a  copy  of  these  minutes  for 
himself,  it  occurred  to  him  that  it  would  be  in  accordance  with 
the  principle  of  love  and  faithfulness  to  make  a  copy  for  Brother 
Martin  (Urner)  and  Alexander  (Mack)  also.  And  then  he 
adds,  "Especially,  as  he  would  have  a  good  opportunity  of  send- 
ing such  copies  by  the  hands  of  John  Reinhard,  of  Germantown, 
who  expected  to  make  a  visit  to  Pipe  Creek  that  autumn."  The 
reader  will  remember  that  they  had  no  mails  in  those  days,  and  it 
was  important  that  they  should  avail  themselves  of  every  oppor- 
tunity of  sending  important  documents. 

Think  a  moment,  young  people  of  America,  at  the  dawning  of 
the  twentieth  century,  of  your  splendid  postal  facilities !  Letters 
are  taken  from  your  very  doors  and  delivered  to  any  part  of  the 
United  States,  Canada,  and  British  America,  at  the  rate  of  two 
cents  an  ounce. 


*  Minutes  of  Annual  Meetings,  page  20. 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  779 

It  is  remarkable  how  tenderly  and  affectionately  these  old 
fathers  addressed  each  other  in  their  letters.  This  fact  was 
especially  impressed  on  our  mind  by  reading  an  epistle  written  by 
Daniel  Leatherman,  dated  at  San  Bergen,  Frederick  County, 
Maryland,  May  23,  1794,  and  addressed  to  Alexander  Mack. 
The  writer  states  that  he  was  not  aware  of  a  single  instance  in 
his  family  worship  when  he  did  not  remember  Brother  Mack,  and 
entreat  the  throne  of  mercy  in  his  behalf.  Almost  every  letter, 
friendship  or  business,  closes  with  the  most  endearing  saluta- 
tions. They  invariably  sent  their  greetings  to  each  member  of 
the  family,  wife  and  children,  and  where  an  intimacy  existed 
between  the  families,  each  member  was  named. 

The  same  letter  states  that  two  persons  had  lately  been  baptized 
in  Baltimore. 

ABOUT  CATHARINE   HUMMER. 

About  the  year  1763  the  brethren  had  a  case  which  was  very 
perplexing  to  them.  It  was  that  of  a  young  sister  by  the  name 
of  Catharine  Hummer. 

At  the  time  of  this  writing,  she  would  be  called  a  spiritual 
medium.  She  was  evidently  a  pure-minded,  devoted,  and  conse- 
crated Christian  lady.  She  had,  or  claimed  to  have  had,  fre- 
quent visions  and  spiritual  revelations,  or  trances.  Her  father 
believed  in  his  daughter  and  her  revelations.  So  also  did  many 
of  the  members  of  the  church.  Others  doubted  and  discredited 
her  visions.  This  state  of  affairs  created  trouble  in  the  church, 
and  a  number  of  council  meetings  ensued.  On  one  occasion,  at 
least,  in  which  she  was  concerned,  the  largest  committee  of  elders 
ever  assembled,  up  to  that  time,  convened  together  to  deliberate 
upon  the  case.  To  give  our  readers  some  idea  of  the  capabilities 
of  Miss  Hummer,  we  offer  a  translation  of  a  few  sentences  from 
a  letter  she  wrote  to  Alexander  Mack,  dated  White  Oakland, 
November  6,  1763: — 

"It  appears  to  me  sometimes  as  if  peace  had  been  taken  from  the 
earth,  and  even  from  those  who  profess  to  believe  in  His  name, 
and  each  one  chose  his  own  pleasure.     I  heartily  thank  you,  dear 


780  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

brother,  for  your  loving  admonition  and  Christian  salutation.  I, 
Catharine  Hummer,  the  very  least  of  your  sisters,  wish  you  the 
grace  of  God  and  His  richest  blessings  upon  your  soul  and  body. 
I  will  endeavor  to  be  patient  in  my  tribulations,  for  the  dear 
Saviour  has  declared  that  through  great  tribulation  we  must 
enter  the  kingdom  of  God.  My  persecutions  are  numerous,  but 
I  will  place  my  confidence  in  my  Saviour." 

"I  am  not  only  persecuted  and  hated  by  the  world,  but  also  by 
those  who  profess  to  be  believers.  They  say  it  is  idolatry  which 
is  performed  through  me.  They  speak  evil  of  what  they  do  not 
understand.     The  Lord  have  mercy  on  them." 

"Dear  Brother  Alexander,  you  wrote  me  in  your  letter  that 
the  heaviest  will  weigh  less  than  nothing  when  they  shall  be 
weighed  in  the  right  balances.  I  know  I  am  imperfect ;  may  the 
Lord  mercifully  infuse  His  good  Spirit  into  my  heart,  so  that, 
when  I  am  weighed  in  the  balances,  I  may  not  be  found  wanting. 
[  verily  believe  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  much  nearer  than 
men  can  realize." 

She  concludes  with  a  quotation  from  a  poet  which  we  give 
verbatim,  and  without  attempting  a  translation : — 

"Lass  sie  spotten,  lass  sielachen, 
Gott  mein  Heil  wird  in  eil, 
Sie  zu  schande  machen." 

A.    MACK,  JR.,  TO   JOHN   PRICE. 

An  idea  of  the  intensity  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  Alexander 
Mack,  Jr.,  may  be  obtained  from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter 
to  John  Price,  dated  July  1,  1798: — 

"I  frankly  confess  that  there  is  no  dogma  so  repugnant  to  my 
mind  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Sadducees.  Should  the  question  arise 
in  your  mind  why  I  so  despise  that  teaching,  I  respectfully  refer 
you  to  Acts  4:1,  2,  and  5  :  17,  18:  'And  as  they  spake  unto  the 
people,  the  priests,  and  the  captain  of  the  temple,  and  the 
Sadducees,  came  upon  them,  being  grieved  that  they  taught  the 
people  and  preached  through  Jesus  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead.'     'Then   the  high  priest    rose  up,  and  all   they  that    were 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  78 1 

with  him,  which  is  the  sect  of  the  Sadducees,  and  were  filled  with 
indignation,  and  laid  their  hands  on  the  apostles,  and  put  them 
in  the  common  prison.' 

"From  these  passages  you  may  learn  my  reasons  for  having 
such  a  loathing  for  the  doctrine  of  the  Sadducees.  Wherever 
such  an  error  finds  the  smallest  lodgment  in  the  mind  of  the 
believer,  the  last  glimmer  of  the  light  of  truth  will  speedily  die  out, 
and  the  person  will  be  transformed  into  a  swine.  O  Lord,  merci- 
fully deliver,  for  the  sake  of  Thine  own  purity,  every  soul  that 
may  yet  retain  the  slightest  spark  of  the  love  of  Christ,  from  such 
contemptible,  hoggish  doctrine.  In  the  epistle  of  Jude,  21,  I  find 
the  following  words :  'Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  look- 
ing for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal  life.'  ' 

In  a  letter  dated  October  23,  1798,  also  addressed  to  John 
Price,  occur  the  following  beautiful  sentences : — 

'The  flowers  in  the  garden  are  quiet  and  peaceable,  although 
one  is  dressed  in  blue,  another  in  red,  and  the  third  in  white. 
They  all  unite  joyfully  in  praising  their  Maker,  and  in  sweet 
concord  magnify  the  diversified  wisdom  of  the  Author  of  all 
being." 

"We  pray  Thee,  O  Lord,  in  the  stillness  of  Zion." 

He  then  announces  the  death  of  one  of  his  grandsons,  which 
had  occurred  the  night  previous,  and  makes  the  following  com- 
ment on  the  occasion  : — 

"This  little  child  completed  its  course  through  life  in  thirteen 
short  weeks,  while  I  have  already  journeyed  eighty-six  years  and 
seven  months,  and  have  not  yet  crossed  the  Jordan.  However, 
what  God  does  is  well  done.  It  does  not  depend  on  man's  haste  or 
repose,  but  on  the  mercy  of  the  Lord." 

ELDER    MICHAEL    FRANTZ ANCIENT    QUERIES. 

From  a  letter  written  by  Elder  Michael  Frantz,  dated  Cones- 
toga,  December  9,  1747,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry,  we  may  learn 
something  of  the  custom  of  the  early  churches  in  regard  to  the 
regulation  of  the  ministry,  and  the  administration  of  the  ordi- 
nances.    One  of  the  questions  asked  him  was  whether  the  com- 


782  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

munion  services  could  be  held  without  an  ordained  elder  being 
present.  His  answer  is  that  if  the  absence  of  an  ordained  elder 
was  unavoidable,  it  might  be  suffered  to  be  done.  He  advises 
that  in  such  an  emergency  the  preference  should  be  given  to  the 
trial  (Versuch)  elder.  From  this  advise  it  appears  that  they 
placed  their  preachers  under  probation.  As  authority  for  such 
a  procedure,  they  quoted  I  Tim.  3  :  10,  "And  let  these  also  first 
be  proved ;  then  let  them  use  the  office  of  a  deacon,  being  found 
blameless."  This  trial  was  expected  to  test  the  officers  whether 
they  could  lead  a  blameless  life.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  from 
this  custom  the  order  of  three  degrees  in  the  ministry  obtained. 
There  was  the  exhorter,  or  assistant  minister,  the  trial  or  proof 
(Versuch)  elder,  and  the  ordained  elder. 

In  case  there  should  be  no  such  officer  present  on  a  communion 
occasion,  he  farther  recommends  that  the  members  of  the  church 
present  could  be  safely  trusted  to  administer  the  ordinances  for 
the*  time  being,  but  that  their  procedure  must  not  be  accepted  as  a 
rule  on  future  occasions. 

ELDER    JOHN    PRICE    TO    A    LADY    UNDER    CONVICTION. 

Elder  John  Price,  under  date  of  September  27,  1793,  wrote  to 
a  lady  who  was  under  conviction : — 

"Would  you  have  the  approbation  of  your  Redeemer,  who 
loved  you  before  you  loved  Him,  you  must  do  so  through  obedi- 
ence to  His  Word.  So  He  teaches  us :  'He  that  hath  My  com- 
mandments and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  Me.  And  he 
that  loveth  Me  shall  be  loved  of  My  Father,  and  I  will  love  him 
and  manifest  Myself  to  him.'  John  14:21.  And  again,  'Not 
every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  My  Father  which 
is  in  heaven.'  Matt.  7:21.  It  is  therefore  necessary,  if  we 
would  be  saved  from  our  sins,  that  we  should  heartily  repent  of 
all  our  sins,  so  that  the  blood  of  our  Saviour,  which  cleanses  from 
all  sin,  may  be  applied  to  our  souls.  When  Saul  had  repented, 
and  fasted,  and  prayed  for  three  days  and  three  nights,  Ananias 
said  to  him,  'Brother  Saul,  why  tarriest  thou?     Arise  and  be  bap- 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  783 

tized,  and  wash  away  thy  .sins.'  Even  Christ  Himself,  who  was 
without  sin,  yet  in  order  to  do  His  Father's  will,  was  baptized  in 
the  Jordan,  in  testimony  of  which  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  a 
voice  was  heard  saying,  This  is  My  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am 
well  pleased.' 

"But,  you  may  ask,  'What  better  will  I  be  if  I  am  baptized?' 
I  would  answer,  It  is  the  command  of  Christ  our  Redeemer,  to 
obey  which  should  be  our  greatest  pleasure.  He  will  not  be  our 
Saviour  unless  we  keep  His  Word.  Disobedience  is  as  the  sin 
of  witchcraft,  but  obedience  is  better  than  burnt-offering,  and  to 
barken  better  than  the  fat  of  rams.  Therefore,  'Blessed  are  they 
that  do  His  commandments,  that  they  may  have  right  to  the  tree 
of  life,  and  enter  in  through  the  gates  into  the  city.'  Rev.  22 :  14. 
"By  baptism  I  do  not  mean  sprinkling  or  pouring,  as  the  clergy 
almost  universally  explain.  If  a  handful  of  water  were  suffi- 
cient to  administer  baptism  according  to  the  Scriptures,  it  would 
not  have  been  necessary  for  Christ  to  go  into  the  Jordan  to  be 
baptized.  Baptism  means  immersion  (Eintauchcn).  Philip  and 
the  eunuch  would  not  have  found  it  necessary  for  both  to  leave 
the  chariot  and  go  down  into  the  water,  if  sprinkling  had  been 
intended.  The  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  would  not  have  been 
required  to  go  out  into  the  Jordan  to  be  sprinkled.  A  little  water 
might  have  been  brought  into  the  temple.  These  facts  should 
indicate  which  is  the  true  baptism,  and  also  which  best  typifies  the 
death  and  burial  of  the  old  man." 

Then,  in  conclusion,  he  offers  the  following  cure  for  lonesome- 
ness :  "Every  morning  promise  yourself  this  one  day  only  of  this 
life,  and  humbly  ask  the  Lord  for  His  protection  and  guidance, 
that  you  may  spend  it  in  such  a  manner  as  will  be  pleasing  in  His 
sight.  Should  you  live  to  the  close  of  the  day,  then  reckon  the 
night  to  be  your  last ;  and  so  each  day  and  night  as  they  pass. 
Thus  time  may  be  divided  up  into  short  periods,  and  can  never 
appear  long.  If  we  should  promise  ourselves  a  long  life,  time 
might  weary  on  our  hands." 


784  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

A.   MACK,   JR.,  TO  JOHN   PRICE. 

Alexander  Alack,  in  a  somewhat  confidential  manner,  wrote  to 
John  Price  under  date  of  February  14,  1776.  In  this  letter  he 
refers  to  some  of  his  domestic  troubles,  we  presume,  to  unburden 
his  soul.  He  states  that  his  daughter  Hannah  sent  her  greetings 
to  Brother  Price,  that  she  always  regarded  him  with  special 
brotherly  affection,  because  she  believed  that  he  feared  the  Lord. 
She  requests  him  to  pray  for  her  that  the  Lord  might  have  mercy 
on  her  in  her  penitent  condition,  that  she  did  not  wish  to  stay 
back  entirely. 

He  also  refers  to  his  daughter  Sarah,  who  had  married  Jacob 
Zeigler,  son  of  Michael  Zeigler.  It  appears  she  had  been  set 
back  from  the  salutation  and  the  breaking  of  bread  for  three 
reasons  :  First,  because  she  had  married  out  of  the  church ;  second, 
that  she  had  been  married  by  a  civil  officer ;  and  third,  because 
her  husband  was  not  yet  free,  and  had  not  notified  his  master. 
We  presume  the  young  man  had  been  sold  for  a  term  of  service 
for  transportation  across  the  ocean,  and  had  not  yet  fully  served 
his  time.  Christ  says,  "A  man  can  not  serve  two  masters,"  which 
is  the  only  violation  of  Scripture  that  could  be  laid  to  his  charge, 
in  my  humble  opinion.  Then  he  remarks :  "So  far  as  I  am  per- 
sonally concerned,  I  asked  the  brethren  publicly,  whether  they 
had  any  charges  against  me ;  and  they  declared  themselves  satis- 
fied with  me,  and  did  not  wish  to  add  anything  to  the  burdens 
which  were  already  laid  upon  me.  However,  I  can  not  say  that 
I  am  entirely  faultless,  although  I  thought,  at  the  time,  I  was 
using  great  care,  and  certainly  was  much  concerned  for  the  wel- 
fare of  my  poor  children.  It  was,  however,  through  the  mercy 
of  God  alone  that  we  are  not  entirely  forsaken,  and  that  I  may 
still  hope  that  everything  may  tend  to  the  best." 

SAUR'S    LETTERS    TO    THE    GOVERNOR    OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

Brother  Saur  wrote  several  letters  to  the  governor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania in  behalf  of  the  German  immigrants,  who  had  been  robbed 
or  defrauded  by  the  transportation  companies  who  had  conveyed 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  785 

them  from  the  fatherland  to  this  country.  They  are  so  inter- 
esting and  so  full  of  pathetic  pleadings  for  the  poor  that  we  have 
translated  them.  The  first  is  dated  Germantown,  Pennsylvania, 
March  15,  1755.  In  this  letter,  after  a  courteous  introduction, 
he  proceeds : — 

"It  is  now  thirty  years  since  I  came  to  this  province  from  a 
country  where  there  was  no  liberty  of  conscience,  and  no  humanity 
reigned  in  the  house  of  the  country  lord.  When  I  came  to  this 
country,  and  found  everything  so  much  more  agreeable,  I  wrote 
to  my  friends  and  acquaintances,  telling  them  of  the  civil  and 
religious  liberty,  and  the  privileges  and  opportunities  which  I 
have  seen  and  enjoyed.  My  letters  were  printed  and  reprinted, 
and  induced  thousands  of  people  to  come  to  this  province.  Many 
thanked  the  Lord  for  it,  and,  in  turn,  wrote  to  their  friends  to 
come  also. 

"Some  years  the  price  was  five  pistoles  (a  coin  worth  from 
three  to  five  dollars)  per  head,  and  the  merchants  and  captains 
were  crowded  with  passengers,  finding  more  profit  on  passengers 
than  on  goods." 

Then  he  proceeds  to  set  forth  the  greed  of  the  transportation 
companies,  shown  in  crowding  the  passengers  like  herrings  into 
small  space  unfit  for  human  beings.  He  names  one  of  the  leading 
agents  as  Steadman,  saying  that  he  kept  many  of  them  on  deck 
while  sailing  out  of  their  climate,  who,  for  want  of  water  and 
room,  suffered  greatly,  and  many  died ;  that  in  one  year  not  less 
than  two  thousand  were  buried  in  the  sea  and  at  Philadelphia. 
Steadman  had  secured  an  exclusive  license  in  Holland  that  no 
other  ship  could  load  until  he  had  two  thousand  passengers. 
Then  Saur  continues  : — 

"This  murdering  trade  made  my  heart  ache,  and  especially 
when  I  learned  that  there  was  more  profit  by  the  death  of  pas- 
sengers than  by  carrying  them  alive.  I  thought  of  the  persuasive 
letters  I  had  written  as  being,  at  least  partly,  the  cause  of  so  many 
poeple's  deaths,  and  so  I  wrote  a  letter  to  the  magistrate  at  Rot- 
terdam ;  and  immediately  the  monopoly  was  taken  from  John 
Steadman. 

50 


786  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

"Our  Legislature  was  also  petitioned,  and  a  law  was  enacted 
good  enough  as  it  is,  but  it  was  never  enforced.  Mr.  Spaffort, 
a  poor  old  captain,  was  made  overseer  of  the  vessels  which  came 
loaded  with  passengers.  His  salary  amounted  to  $200  to  $300 
a  year,  for  concealing  the  fact  that  the  poor  people  had  but  twelve 
inches  of  space,  and  not  more  than  half  sufficient  bread  and  water. 
Spaffort  died,  and  the  assembly  appointed  Air.  Trotter,  who 
allowed  every  ship  to  pass,  although  he  saw  that  many  people 
had  no  room,  except  in  the  long  boat,  where  every  man  perished. 
There  were  so  many  complaints  that  many  in  Philadelphia,  and 
almost  all  Gennantown,  signed  a  petition  to  the  Assembly  to  give 
the  office  to  Thomas  Say,  an  English  merchant  in  Philadelphia, 
in  whom  we  had  confidence  that  he  would  take  no  bribe  for  con- 
cealing the  sufferings  of  the  poor  people;  or  if  they  would  not 
remove  Trotter,  they  should  give  him  an  assistant  in  the  person 
of  Daniel  Macinett,  who  speaks  German  and  English,  and  who 
might  interecede  for  the  people  in  their  own  language.  All  this 
was  in  vain,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  at  least. 

"It  arouses  one's  indignation,  even  after  the  lapse  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years,  to  read  of  the  outrages  imposed  on  the  Ger- 
man immigrants.  The  few  who  survived  became  stalwart  pio- 
neers of  our  free  nation.  No  matter  what  agreement  they  had 
entered  into  with  the  navigation  agents,  the.  poor  people  were 
defrauded  during  the  voyage.  They  were  prisoners  on  board. 
They  dared  not  go  ashore  until  they  paid  what  was  demanded 
of  them,  or  gave  a  bond  to  do  so.  They  could  show  their  agree- 
ments, wherein  it  was  plainly  mentioned  that  they  were  to  pay 
seven  pistoles  and  a  half  to  Isaac  and  Zachariah  Hoke,  at  Rotter- 
dam, or  their  order  at  Philadelphia.  In  this  way  the  country  was 
made  to  lose  from  two  thousand  to  three  thousand  pounds  a  year. 
It  was  greatly  to  be  desired  that  wholesome  laws  might  be  enacted, 
so  that  when  such  vessels  arrived  a  commissioner  might  be 
appointed  to  inspect  the  agreements,  and  judge  whether  seven 
and  a  half  pistoles  do  not  make  so  many  pistoles.  Some  of  the 
assemblymen  were  inquired  of  whether  there  was  no  remedy. 
They  replied,  The  law  is  such  that  what  is  above  forty  shillings 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  787 

must  be  decided  at  court,  and  every  man  must  make  his  own 
cause  appear  good  and  stand  his  trial.'  That  was  poor  comfort 
for  three  thousand  injured  people.  They  were  all  so  anxious  to  go 
ashore  and  satisfy  their  hunger  that  they  would  submit  to  almost 
anything  that  was  demanded  of  them.  Some  were  sighing  and 
crying,  others  were  cursing,  and  all  seemed  to  believe  that  they 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  highwaymen,  who  would  present 
pistols  to  the  breast  and  demand  anything  that  they  pleased.  And, 
indeed,  their  conclusions  seemed  to  be  just.  I  myself  had  thought 
that  a  commissioner  might  be  ordained  in  such  cases ;  but  it 
appears  to  me  now  that  the  Assembly  is  more  concerned  to  pre- 
vent the  importation  of  such  passengers  than  to  do  justice  to  them. 
To  assist  your  honor  in  so  amending  the  bill  that  justice  may  be 
done,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  inform  your  honor  of  the  intended  decep- 
tion and  dishonesty. 

"I  was  surprised  to  see  the  title  of  the  bill,  which,  in  my  opin- 
ion, is  not  the  desire  of  the  crown ;  neither  is  it  the  will  of  the 
Lord,  who  gives  an  open  way  to  the  poor  and  distressed,  that 
they  may  come  to  a  place  where  there  is  room  for  them.  And  if 
there  should  be  no  more  room  here,  there  is  land  enough  in  the 
neighborhood.  There  are  eight  or  nine  counties  of  German 
people  in  Virginia,  where  many  of  our  Pennsylvania  people  have 
already  removed  to.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  proper  to  allow  the 
German  emigrants  to  come,  and  see  that  justice  is  done  to  them. 

"The  command  of'  the  Lord  is  :  'Defend  the  poor  and  fatherless  ; 
do  justice  to  the  afflicted  and  needy.  Deliver  the  poor  and  needy  ; 
rid  them  out  of  the  hand  of  the  wicked.'     Ps.  82 :  3,  4. 

"Dear  sir,  you  are  a  servant  of  the  Lord  our  God,  and  I 
believe  you  are  still  willing  to  do  what  lies  in  your  power;  but 
I  am  also  forced  to-  conclude,  since  you  have  left  the  bill  in  the 
hands  of  your  counselors,  that  you  will  not  be  fully  informed  of 
the  worst,  as  one  of  them  is  an  interested  party.  The  principal 
grievances  complained  of  are  that  the  captains  often  hurry  them 
away  without  an  agreement,  or  the  agreement  is  not  signed,  or  if 
a  fair  agreement  is  written,  signed,  and  sealed,  it  will  not  be  com- 
plied with,  and  the  passenger  must  pay  whatever  is  demanded; 


788  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

but  when  the  people's  chests  are  put  in  store  until  the  passengers 
can  go  and  borrow  money  from  their  friends  and  return  and 
demand  their  chests,  they  find  them  broken  open  and  plundered ; 
or  the  chest  is  not  to  be  found  at  all,  for  which  they  have  paid 
double  claims.  And  for  all  this  there  is  no  redress,  because  they 
can  not  speak  English,  and  have  no  money  with  which  to  go  to 
law,  and  because  there  is  no  officer  to  speak  for  the  people  and 
assist  them  in  securing  justice;  but  the  officers  at  hand  would 
rather  take  pay  for  concealing  their  grievances." 

Then  he  proceeds  to  relate  the  troubles  encountered  by  whole 
families,  "who  were  able  to  liberate  only  one  or  two  members, 
while  the  others  were  obliged  to  remain  on  board ;  and  some  of 
them  famished  for  want ;  and  in  some  cases  widows  were  bound 
for  the  debts  of  others." 

We  quote  again :  "Our  Assembly  bought  a  house  on  an  island 
in  the  Delaware  River,  where  healthy  people  must  soon  take  sick. 
This  place  might  do  very  well  for  people  with  contagious  diseases  ; 
but  if  the  place  were  located  on  dry,  healthy  ground,  where  the 
Germans  might  build  a  house  with  conveniences  and  stoves  for 
winter,  it  would  be  better  for  the  people  in  ordinary  sickness, 
and  their  friends  could  take  care  of  them.  This  would  be  much 
preferable  to  perishing  under  the  merciless  hands  of  their  masters. 
Life  is  sweet. 

"Dear  sir,  I  am  old  and  infirm,  leaning  heavily  on  my  staff 
toward  the  grave.  I  will  soon  be  gone,  and  I  hope  your  honor 
will  not  take  it  amiss  when  I  commend  to  you  the  cause  of  the 
helpless.  We  ask  of  the  Lord  in  our  prayers  to  protect  us  from 
all  evil,  and  from  all  encroachments  of  evil ;  and  if  we  impose  on 
the  poor  we  may  expect  the  Lord  to  do  to  us  accordingly,  for  He 
promises  to  measure  to  us  as  we  measure  to  others." 

Then,  after  a  dignified,  suitable  conclusion  of  the  first  letter, 
and  an  honorable  introduction  of  the  second,  he  refers  to  the  fact 
that  the  late  Assembly  had  adjourned  without  passing  the  Ger- 
man bill,  and  partly  because  the  governor  was  too  much  occupied 
with  other  business;  that  the  governor  had  approved  of  all  the 
points  in  the  bill,  except  that  the  chests  of  the  German  passengers 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  789 

must  not  necessarily  accompany  them  on  the  same  vessel ;  for  all 
of  which  Elder  Saur  expresses  a  deep  regret ;  in  fact,  it  was  the 
important  part  of  the  bill.     Then  we  quote  again : — 

"Therefore  I  hope  you  will  not  take  it  amiss  when  I  endeavor 
to  inform  you  of  the  case  and  some  of  the  consequences.  The 
crown  of  England  found  it  profitable  to  people  the  American 
colonies,  and  for  the  encouragement  thereof  transportation  of 
German  Protestants  was  indulged,  and  orders  were  issued  to  the 
officers  of  the  custom-houses  in  the  ports  of  England  not  to 
be  severe  with  vessels  carrying  German  passengers.  They  evi- 
dently believed  that  populating  English  colonies  would,  in  time 
to  come,  be  more  profitable  to  the  country  than  the  trifles  of  duty 
at  the  custom-houses.  This  the  merchants  and  importers  also 
realized.  They  filled  vessels  with  passengers  and  as  much  mer- 
chandise as  they  saw  fit,  and  left  the  passengers'  baggage  behind ; 
and  sometimes  they  loaded  vessels  with  palatines'  chests  alone; 
but  the  poor  people  depended  on  their  chests,  wherein  were  their 
provisions,  such  as  they  were  accustomed  to,  as  dried  fruit, 
mustard,  medicines,  gammous,  butter,  vinegar,  and  clothing,  nec- 
essary linens,  money,  and  whatever  they  brought  with  them. 
When  their  chests  were  left  behind,  or  shipped  on  other  vessels, 
they  had  want  of  nourishment ;  and  when  not  sufficient  provision 
was  shipped  for  the  passengers,  and  they  had  nothing  themselves, 
they  famished  and  died.  Or  when  they  arrived  alive,  they  had 
no  money  to  buy  bread,  nor  had  they  anything  to  sell.  If  they 
sold  their  spare  clothes,  they  had  not  change  for  themselves,  nor 
could  they  cleanse  themselves  of  lice  and  filth.  If  they  were 
taken  into  houses,  trusting  on  their  effects  and  money  when  they 
came,  they  were  either  left  or  were  plundered  by  the  sailors  in 
the  vessels;  or  if  such  vessels  arrived  before  them,  they  were 
searched  by  the  merchant  boys,  and  their  best  effects,  or  all,  taken 
out;  and  there  was  no  remedy.  This  last-mentioned  practice  is 
the  common  custom  and  daily  complaint.  Last  week  the  chest 
of  a  pious  man  living  with  me  was  broken  open,  and  three  fine 
shirts  and  a  flute  were  taken.  The  lock  was  broken  to  pieces,  and 
the  lid  of  the  chest  was  split  with  a  chisel.     Such,  my  dear  sir, 


790  HISTORY    OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

is  the  case;  and  if  your  honor  will  countenance  these  doings, 
the  consequence  will  be  that  vessels  filled  with  passengers  will 
be  filled  with  merchandise,  wine,  etc.,  and  at  the  king's  custom- 
house they  will  call  passengers'  drink  and  necessaries  for  the 
people  household  goods,  etc.,  and  all  will  be  passed  free  of  duty. 
Or  if  they  choose  to  load  the  vessels  with  chests  and  baggage  of 
passengers  alone,  that  will  also  be  called  free  of  duty  at  the  custom- 
houses ;  and  as  the  owners  of  the  baggage  were  not  with  it,  and 
as  no  bills  of  lading  are  given,  the  chests  will  be  freely  opened 
and  plundered  by  the  sailors  and  others,  and  what  is  left  will  be 
found  in  the  stores  by  the  merchants'  boys  and  their  friends. 
Thus  the  king  will  be  defrauded,  and  the  smugglers  and  store 
boys  will  be  encouraged  by  your  upholding  of  the  act  by  which 
they  obtain  their  unholy  gain  ;  and  the  poor  sufferers  will  mourn, 
or  harbor  revenge  in  their  bosoms,  according  as  they  are  godly 
or  ungodly,  for  the  thievery  thus  maintained. 

"If  a  merchant  should  lose  thirty  or  forty  pounds,  or  even  ten 
thousand  pounds,  he  will  have  something  to  spare  for  himself 
and  his  friends;  but  if  a  poor  man's  chest  is  left  behind  or 
plundered,  at  sea  or  in  the  stores,  he  has  lost  all  he  had.  If  a 
rich  man's  store,  or  house,  or  chest  is  broken  open  or  plundered, 
there  is  an  abundance  of  noise  about  it;  but  if  a  thousand  poor 
men's  property  is  taken  from  them,  not  a  word  is  said  about  it. 
''If  I  were  ordered  to  print  advertisements  notifying  people 
who  had  lost  their  chests  by  leaving  them  behind  against  their 
will,  or  had  been  opened  or  plundered  at  sea,  that  they  should 
come  and  receive  recompense  for  the  same,  not  fourfold,  nor 
even  full  value,  but  only  half  value,  your  honor  would  be  aston- 
ished at  the  crowd  of  several  thousand  people.  But  as  such 
simple  justice  can  not  even  be  expected  at  this  time,  justice  will 
have  to  be  deferred  to  that  great,  great,  long,  long  judgment  day, 
when  impartial  justice  will  be  dealt  out  to  rich  and  poor  alike, 
and  the  uttermost  be  paid.  At  the  present  time  about  all  the 
satisfaction  these  poor  sufferers  can  get  is,  'Can  you  prove  who 
has  opened  and  plundered  your  chest?'  or,  'Have  you  a  bill  of 
lading?'     This  has  been  the  practice  of  some  of  the  merchants 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  791 

at  Philadelphia,  and  if  it  must  continue  much  longer,  the  Lord 
our  God  will  say  to  the,  city  as  He,  did  to  her  sister  Sodom,  'Behold, 
this  was  the  iniquity  of  thy  sister  Sodom,  pride,  fulness  of  bread, 
and  abundance  of  idleness  was  in  her  and  in  her  daughters, 
neither  did  she  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  poor  and  needy ;  but 
rather  weakened  the  hands  of  the  poor  and  needy.'  Eze.  16 :  49 ; 
18:  12. 

"We  have  special  need  at  this  time  to  call  upon  the  Lord  for  His 
protection,  and  in  the  meantime  we  ought  to  cleanse  our  hands, 
or  He  will  not  answer  our  prayers,  but  will  declare :  'And  when 
ye  spread  forth  your  hands,  I  will  hide  Mine  eyes  from  you. 
Yea,  when  ye  make  many  prayers,  I  will  not  hear;  because  your 
hands  are  full  of  blood.'  ': 

Then,  under  date  of  June  12,  he  adds  a  brief  postscript,  in  which 
he  appeals  to  the  governor  for  an  honorable  and  merciful  adminis- 
tration. Again,  referring  to  the  eighty-second  psalm,  and  invok- 
ing the  blessing  of  heaven  upon  the  magistrate  and  his  coun- 
selors, he  assures  his  honor  that  with  his  honorable  treatment 
of  the  Germans,  they  would  prove  loyal  to  the  colonies.  He  also 
offers  a  warning  against  farther  injustice  to  his  people,  and  sug- 
gests that  it  would  not  be  prudent  to  call  on  them  for  assistance, 
as  there  were  also  some  wicked  people  among  the  Germans,  for 
whose  acts  he  would  not  be  responsible  if  they  should  find  them- 
selves overpowered  by  the  French.  They  might  make  reprisals 
on  those  who  had  picked  their  chests  and  forced  them  to  pay  that 
which  they  did  not  owe ;  and,  indeed,  if  they  had  been  Englishmen 
who  had  suffered  so  much,  he  would  be  still  less  willing  to  be 
bound  for  their  good  behavior. 

Then  he  appeals  to  the  governor  not  to  regard  his  cause  as  a 
trifling  matter,  as  it  involved  the  welfare  of  many  influential  Ger- 
mans, who  had  lost  from  fifty  to  one  thousand  pounds,  by  having 
their  baggage  left  behind,  or  being  robbed  of  their  belongings 
in  the  stores,  and  who  are  now  obliged  to  live  in  poverty,  and 
consequent  grief.     Then  he  concludes  with  the  following  words  : — 

"If  you  doubt  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  let  the  injured  people 
be  notified  in  the  newspapers  in  the  hopes  of  redress,  and  your 


792  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Honor  will  believe  me.  But  if  the  German  nation  should  learn 
that  this  government  has  no  respect  for  them,  and  that  no  justice 
can  be  obtained,  it  would  be  utterly  in  vain  to  offer  them  free 
schools,  especially  if  they  are  to  be  regulated  and  inspected  by  one 
who  is  neither  respected  nor  regarded  in  all  the  province. 

"I  hope  your  honor  will  pardon  my  scribbling.  I  have  no  object 
in  view  except  the  needful  redress  for  the  multitude  of  grievances 
of  the  poor  people  and  the  preservation  of  their  lives  and  prop- 
erty, and  that  the  friendship  of  the  Germans  towards  the  English 
nation  may  be  retained,  and  for  the  honor  and  integrity  of  your 
excellency,  and  not  a  farthing  for  your  humble  servant. 

"Christopher  Saur/' 

letters   from   elder  grabill   myers. 

Brother  Myers  was  my  elder.  Under  him  I  was  elected  to  the 
ministry,  and  by  him  advanced  to  the  second  degree  in  the  office. 
We  were  warm  personal  friends.  I  know  of  no  other  aged  man 
in  the  brotherhood  whom  I  held  in  higher  esteem  for  his  Chris- 
tian virtues  than  I  did  Elder  Grabill  Myers.  And  it  is  a  source 
of  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  know  that  our  admiration  for  each 
other  was  mutual.  The  following  letters  from  his  hand  will 
indicate  his  regard  for  me,  as  well  as  express  his  views  upon  sev- 
eral important  subjects  of  church  polity. 

In  a  letter  dated  El  Dorado,  June  12,  1882,  Brother  Myers  said : 
"Your  report  of  annual  meeting  and  the  progressive  mass  meet- 
ing has  come  to  hand.  I  suppose  it  is  the  best  you  could  do 
under  the  circumstances.  For  my  part  I  will  call  you  my  brother 
until  it  is  proved  that  you  have  violated  some  law.  And  any 
member  that  contends  for  the  whole  law,  and  makes  an  effort  to 
live  it  out,  is  my  brother  and  my  sister  in  the  Lord.  That  is  my 
mind  on  the  subject.  You  know  I  always  was  a  little  more  pro- 
gressive than  most  of  the  brethren  of  my  age.  To  hang  a  man 
without  judge  or  jury  is  contrary  to  all  law.  I  have  read  your 
platform  again  and  again.  T  can  find  no  fault  with  it  if  carried 
out.  If  I  were  to  add  anything  to  it,  it  would  be  this :  In  con- 
nection with  the  eighteenth  of  Matthew,  as  usually  read  to  appli- 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  793 

cants  for  baptism,  if  you  will  also  read  the  first  chapter  of  James, 
it  will  make  a  perfect  platform. 

"I  have  retired  from  active  service  in  the  church,  not  willingly, 
but  from  necessity.  On  account  of  bodily  debility  I  am  not  able 
to  attend  to  the  duties  of  an  elder.  I  do  not  desire  a  position  that 
I  am  not  able  to  fill ;  but  my  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God 
for  Israel  is  that  they  might  be  saved. 

"My  faith  in  Christ  is  the  same  as  it  was  years  ago.  My 
health  is  good,  but  the  walking  part  has  about  given  out.  I  must 
use  a  crutch  and  a  cane  in  walking  through  the  house ;  but  I  try 
to  content  myself  with  my  lot.  I  find  that  happiness  in  this  life 
does  not  consist  in  wealth  so  much  as  in  contentment.  I  am  well 
cared  for,  and  do  not  know  that  I  have  an  enemy  in  the  world. 
I  have  plenty  of  time  to  read  and  meditate.  I  never  doubted 
my  faith  nor  my  motives  ;  but  when  I  compare  my  actions  with  the 
gospel,  I  come  far  short. 

"I  read  the  gospel  more  now  than  when  I  was  engaged  in  busi- 
ness. I  occasionally  find  a  passage  of  Scripture  which  I  had  not 
noticed  before.  One  of  them  is  found  in  the  ninth  chapter  of 
Mark.  When  Christ  sent  out  His  disciples,  and  they  returned 
again,  John  said,  'Master,  we  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  Thy 
name,  and  he  followed  not  us ;  and  we  forbade  him,  because  he 
followed  not  us.'  The  Saviour  said  they  should  not  forbid  him, 
"for  there  is  no  man  which  shall  do  a  miracle  in  My  name,  that 
can  lightly  speak  evil  of  Me.'  Acting  in  the  name  of  Christ 
always  implies  by  His  direction  ;  and  faith  in  Him  is  a  substance 
of  all  true  religion.  My  life  is  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close,  and 
I  do  not  want  to  die  with  animosity  in  my  heart  against  any 
person.  I  take  the  Saviour's'  language  for  my  guide,  'For  who- 
soever shall  do  the  will  of  My  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  the 
same  is  My  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother,'  exclusive  of  names. 
In  this  way  I  expect  to  meet  the  approbation  of  Him  who  has 
power  to  save.  Grabill   Myers/' 


794  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

LETTER     FROM     ELDER     ISAAC     PRICE. 

"To  the  Brethren  in  State  Sunday-School  Convention  at  Hunting- 
don, Pennsylvania — 

"Greeting:  May  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  be  with  you. 

"In  view  of  providential  hindrances  which  prevent  me  from 
being  with  you,  I  will  communicate  a  few  thoughts. 

"It  is  our  first  state  convention.  The  action  of  this  meeting- 
will  do  much  to  accelerate  or  retard  the  blessed  work.  The  rise 
and  progress  of  Sunday-schools  with  us  have  been  slow.  Its 
advocates  have  not  always  watched  its  progress  with  patience. 
But  now  we  may  thank  God  and  take  courage,  that  a  state  con- 
vention is  being  held. 

"My  dear  brethren,  you  are  in  a  responsible  position,  looked 
upon  from  above,  and  by  the  church,  and  will  be  watched  with 
care  by  those  whose  closest  prayers  are  now  being  answered. 
Try  to  lose  self  in  the  interest  of  the  cause.  Consider  your  work 
accessory  to  the  church,  a  nursery  from  which  the  garden  of  the 
Lord  is  to  be  replenished. 

"The  vacancies  made  by  death  in  the  church,  and  the  ravages 
of  the  enemy,  make  needful  all  available  means  for  recruit.  You 
have  met  to  compare  ideas.  Allow  yourselves  free  expression 
to  all  thoughts  which  have  culminated  in  the  closet ;  but  watch- 
fully guard  and  quickly  suppress  anything  during  debate  which 
may  have  a  root  of  bitterness.  Impulsive  thoughts  will  arise 
during  discussion.  Such  as  have  been  weighed  in  the  balance  of 
conscience,  and  ripened  into  conviction  of  soul,  may  properly  find 
utterance,  as  though  having  lain  long  dormant. 

"There  is  great  power  in  the  mind,  if  kept  under  the  quickening 
of  the  spirit,  which  enables  the  speaker  to  accept  or  reject  such 
uprising  thoughts  instantly.  The  painful  remembrance  of 
unwise  and  unprofitable  utterances  has  been  the  lot  of  us  all.  To 
err  is  human.  God  is  merciful,  yet  wisdom  dictates  the  use  of 
all  available  aids  to  avoid  error  as  far  as  possible.  That  power 
alluded  to  above  is  only  attained  by  fasting,  prayer,  and  watch- 
fulness ;  but  the  blessed  boon  is  worthv  of  the  effort. 


EPISTOLARY      HISTORY.  795 

"Dear  brethren,  we  have  aggregated  from  various  previous 
surroundings,  some  from  other  folds,  and  all  more  or  less  affected 
in  our  earlier  years  by  associations,  attending  of  services  among 
other  persuasions,  school  influences,  reading  books  beside  the 
Bible,  and  there  is  need  to  be  very  cautious  not  to  jar  the  feelings 
of  any  one  unnecessarily. 

"Love  is  the  precious  charm  that  unites  hearts  and  covers  real 
or  apparent  defects.  'Let  love  be  without  dissimulation.'  We 
need  each  other's  aid.  We  can  not  walk  alone ;  much  less  can 
we  work  alone  in  the  Master's  cause. 

"How  sweet  is  Christian  love !  What  a  glow  it  sends  into  the 
dark  chambers  of  the  heart !  How  important  to  watch  the  embers 
when  the  light  begins  to  flicker ! 

"Poor  human  nature,  how  prone  to  envy,  jealousy,  and  secret 
dislike !  What  dire  efforts  they  produce,  and  under  the  guise  of 
zeal  destroy  the  tender  vines ! 

"You  have  appointed  three  days  to  a  good  work.  Consecrate 
those  three  days  to  God  and  humanity.  My  heart  yearns  for 
precious  results  from  your  deliberations.  In  many  closets  God 
will  behold  humble  suppliants  upon  His  mercy  on  your  behalf. 
And  when  you  feel  the  sweet  influence  of  love  receding  from  the 
heart,  think  that  for  that  very  emergency  precious  souls  are  pray- 
ing in  your  behalf. 

"Again  I  say,  may  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  be  with  you  all. 
Amen.  Isaac  Price/' 

ELDER   MOOMAW   TO   H.    R.    HOLSINGER. 

"Bonsacks,  Va.,  Nov.  13,  1899. 

"H.  R.  Holsinger — Dear  Brother:  Your  letter  of  the  5th  is 
received  and  carefully  read. 

"You  address  me  as  a  brother,  and  I  can  do  the  same  in  one 
sense.  We  were  once  brethren  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term, 
but  are  now  limited  by  our  church  relation  being  dissolved. 
And  while  the  church  of  which  I  am  a  member  is  progressing, 
or  we  may  say  is  drifting,  into  the  current  of  modern  Christianity, 
with  its  liberal  ideas,  I  remain  steadfast,  immovable  in  the  doctrine 


y96  HISTORY     OF     THE    TUNKERS. 

and  practice  of  the  church,  as  handed  down  to  us  by  the  fathers 
of  Israel, — a  reflection  of  the  apostolic  pattern.  And  seeing  it  as 
it  is,  we  repeat  the  question,  'When  the  Son  of  man  cometh,  shall 
He  find  faith  on  the  eartli  ?'  And  the  time  is  coming,  as  is  clearly 
seen  by  history  to-day,  of  the  prophecy  fulfilled  and  fulfilling. 

"You,  of  course,  have  some  knowledge  of  my  biography,  of 
my  work  for  and  with  the  church.  You  say  you  have  two  of 
my  books.  I  know  that  my  debate  with  Doctor  Jackson  on  bap- 
tism, with  other  subjects  connected,  has  a  wide  circulation.  I 
have  two  other  books  now  in  the  hands  of  the  printers ;  one  is 
The  Divinity  of  Christ,'  and  the  other  a  history  of  the  church 
during  the  Civil  War,  which  is  in  part  largely  a  biographical 
sketch  of  my  history  of  that  period. 

"And  I  suppose  that  you  know  something  of  my  history  in 
connection  with  the  E.  A.  Miller  case  in  the  hands  of  the  com- 
mittee at  the  Bridgewater  school,  in  all  of  which,  with  the  blessing 
of  God's  providence,  I  was  victorious  ;  and  it  proved  creditable  to 
me  in  the  church  and  out  of  it,  especially  since  the  development 
of  the  Lordsburg  scandal. 

"I  could  have  given  the  history  of  a  number  of  our  leading 
brethren  at  an  earlier  period,  when  my  mind  and  memory  were 
more  active  and  retentive ;  but  now,  in  my  advanced  age,  in  my 
eighty-sixth  year,  they  have  failed  considerably.  And  as  to  send- 
ing you  photographs,  as  you  know,  the  taking  of  pictures  was 
advised  against  by  the  church,  and,  in  my  mind,  is  inordinate  in 
its  practice,  and  becomes  in  many  cases  idolatrous,  therefore  I 
have  never  had  my  picture  taken,  nor  in  any  way  encouraged 
others.  I  therefore  decline  your  request.  Please  excuse  me,  and 
believe  me  as  ever,  in  one  sense,  fraternally  yours. 

"B.  F.  Moomaw." 


CHAPTER  XIX 
MISCELLANY 

THE  FIRST  AMERICAN  BIBLE. 

In  1748,  Christopher  Saur,  at  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  pub- 
lished the  first  German  edition  of  the  Bible,  after  having  been 
three  years  in  press.  But  it  was  not  until  about  one  hundred  and 
seventy  years  after  the  first  English  colony  had  been  planted  in 
America  (at  Jamestown,  Virginia,  1607)  that  the  Bible  in  the 
English  language  was  printed.  During  this  long  period  the  col- 
onists were  dependent  upon  the  press  of  the  old  country  for  their 
supply  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  After  independence  had  been 
declared,  however,  such  was  the  scarcity  of  Bibles  that  Doctor 
Allison,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Philadelphia, 
and  others,  memorialized  Congress  upon  the  subject,  and  that 
body,  in  1777,  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  printers,  with 
the  view  of  having  published  thirty  thousand  copies  at  the  expense 
of  Congress,  to  be  reimbursed  by  the  sale  of  the  books.  Journal, 
September  11,  1777.  The  difficulty  of  obtaining  type  and  paper 
induced  the  committee  to  recommend  to  Congress  to  direct  the 
committee  on  commerce  to  import,  at  the  national  expense,  twenty 
thousand  English  Bibles  from  Holland,  Scotland,  or  elsewhere, 
and  Congress  ordered  the  importation.  But  afterward,  when 
the  unsettled  state  of  the  country  and  its  commerce  prevented 
the  execution  of  this  order,  Congress  resumed  the  subject  of 
printing,  which  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  three,  in  which 
George  Duffield,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  William  White, 
of  the  Episcopal,  chaplains  of  Congress,  assisted.  And  the  first 
American  edition  of  the  Bible  in  the  English  language  was 
printed  in  1771-72,  in  small  duodecimo  form,  and  brevier  type. 
Christopher  Saur,  who  by  his  private  means  and  enterprise  pub- 
lished the  first  American  edition  of  the  Bible  in  the  German  lan- 
guage, was  one  of  the  first  preachers  in  the  Tunker  Church  in 

(797) 


798  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

America.     And  this  he  accomplished  twenty-four  years  before  the 
Bible  was  published  in  the  English  language  by  national  aid. 

The  cost  and  labor  to  publish  the  Bible  in  the  German  lan- 
guage certainly  is  equal  to  that  of  publishing  one  in  the  English  ; 
yet  to  accomplish  the  latter  the  nation  was  solicited  to  aid,  while 
one  old  brother,  unnoticed,  unappreciated  by  a  scoffing  world, 
which  called  him  tunker,  dipper,  meekly  lays  his  hand  to  his  press 
and  prints  and  publishes  one  himself. 

FORMING   PUBLIC   SENTIMENT. 

About  the  year  1870  I  conceived  the  idea  of  reporting  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  annual  meeting  in  full,  giving  all  the  speeches. 
With  this  view,  I  engaged  the  services  of  a  competent  reporter 
from  the  office  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  at  Washington  City. 
I  was  to  pay  him  four  dollars  per  day,  including  going  and  com- 
ing. The  conference  was  held  that  year  near  Roanoke,  Virginia. 
To  assure  the  success  of  the  enterprise,  I  wrote  to  Elder  B.  F. 
Moomaw,  chairman  of  committee  of  arrangements,  telling  him 
of  my  prospect,  and  soliciting  his  assistance  in  securing  accom- 
modations for  writing  and  entertainment.  However,  I  had  mis- 
taken my  man,  who,  instead  of  helping  me,  took  advantage  of 
his  foreknowledge  of  my  intentions.  Instead  of  complying  with 
my  requests,  he  took  steps  to  forestall  the  work,  in  so  far  as  to 
have  the  standing  committee  take  action  on  the  case.  That  action 
embraced  a  resolution  to  forbid  the  taking  of  such  a  contemplated 
report.  I  was  informed  of  this  action  on  entering  the  grounds. 
I  strenuously  insisted  upon  having  the  report  taken  down  at  all 
events,  even  if  I  dare  not  publish  it,  as  it  would  cost  me  no  more, 
having  engaged  the  reporter,  who  was  also  on  the  ground  ready 
to  go  to  work.  Hence  I  was  called  before  the  standing  com- 
mittee. In  debating  the  case  with  them,  I  was  told  that  I  should 
have  known  that  the  sentiment  of  the  brethren  would  not  be 
favorable  to  such  a  new  movement.  To  this  I  made  reply  that 
I  regarded  it  as  my  privilege,  as  editor  of  a  paper,  to  mould 
public  sentiment.  To  this  remark  I  received  the  answer,  from 
some  old  brother,  I  think  it  was  Henry  Davy :  "You  may  find  it 


MISCELLANY.  799 

a  pretty  hard  matter  to  lead  the  sentiment  of  the  annual  meet- 
ing.    The  brethren  generally  do  their  own  thinking/' 

In  connection  with  the  above  statements  I  recall  another  simi- 
lar declaration.  In  conversation  with  Hon.  C.  C.  Musselman, 
then  a  member  of  the  church  in  good  standing,  on  some  subjects 
relating  to  the  development  of  the  church,  he  remarked,  "Hol- 
singer,  you  can  never  get  the  Tunker  Church  out  of  its  old  ruts ; 
you  may  as  well  give  it  up." 

Brother  Musselman  has  now  been  dead  about  twelve  years,  but 
the  annual  meeting  is  still  alive  and  serves  the  Tunker  Church ; 
and  the  report  of  annual  meeting  has  become  a  standard  in  liter- 
ature in  the  Tunker  Church ;  and  I,  thank  God,  am  still  living  to 
see  the  fruits  of  the  labor  in  endeavoring  to  form  public  senti- 
ment. It  is  the  privilege  and  opportunity  of  a  vigorous  and  per- 
sistent editorial  career. 

These  scraps  are  not  being  written  in  a  spirit  of  prophecy  nor 
vainglory,  but  simply  from  observing  the  signs  of  the  times  as 
they  used  to  be  and  are  now.  The  Tunker  Church  does  move, 
but,  like  "the  mills  of  the  gods,"  she  grinds  slowly,  but  surely — 
not  so  exceedingly  slowly,  either.  It  has  only  been  about  thirty 
years  since  the  above  incident  occurred  in  Roanoke  County, 
Virginia. 

In  1879  annual  meeting  was  again  held  in  the  same  county, 
where  the  reporter  was  regarded  as  an  important  factor  of  the 
conference. 

ENCOURAGEMENT. 

"Brother  Henry  :  I  send  you  a  list  of  names,  hoping  to  aid  you 
in  your  great  work  for  the  good  of  the  brotherhood.  I  do  not 
believe  there  ever  was  a  paper  published  that  has  done  so  much 
good,  and  brought  joy  to  as  many  households,  as  the  Christian 
Family  Companion.  It  has  become  a  welcome  messenger  to 
many ;  it  has  caused  light  to  shine  in  dark  places ;  it  has  made 
many  souls  glad  in  the  far  west,  who  have  left  their  brethren  and 
relatives,  and  it  makes  them  rejoice  to  hear  from  those  whom 
they  left  back.     .     .     .     Many  persons  read,  but  do  not  reflect 


8oO  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

what  labor,  patience,  vexation,  and  anxiety  the  editor  has  to 
endure  before  they  can  read  the  paper.  I  was  in  the  printing 
business  once  myself,  and  I  can  sympathize  with  you  in  your 
labors.-  Doctor  F.  C.  Renner. 

"New  Midway,  Maryland,   October,   1873." 

On  the  nth  of  February,  1873,  Elder  Isaac  Price,  of  Schuyl- 
kill, Pennsylvania,  remained  home  on  account  of  the  inclemency 
of  the  weather.  He  reread  several  copies  of  the  Christian  Family 
Companion,  and  made  the  following  comments :  "Tt  is  wonderful 
how  much  they  improved  on  a  second  reading,  on  a  leisure  day. 
I  now  remember  that  on  a  similar  occasion  I  did  likewise,  and 
then,  as  now,  found  deeper  interest  and  higher  appreciation  on  the 
second  reading."  This  reflection  followed:  "That  the  Christian 
Family  Companion  is  not  a  paper  to  be  read  as  a  common  news- 
paper, and  then  thrown  by,  but  ought  to  be  read  as  we  read  the 
Bible,  prayerfully  and  at  seasons  set  apart  for  that  purpose.  And 
where  there  is  a  family  who  will  listen  attentively,  marked  selec- 
tions should  be  read  to  them.  — Page  154,  18/3. 

A  TUNKER   WAR   EPISODE. 

At  a  communion  meeting  held  near  Plattsburg,  Missouri,  in 
1873,  Brother  Addison  Harper,  formerly  a  rebel  general,  and 
Franklin  Holsinger,  a  major  in  the  Union  Army,  met,  saluted 
each  other,  and  then  in  conversation  wandered  off  to  a  grove, 
where  the  following  colloquy  occurred  : — 

"You  spake  of  my  being  a  rebel  officer.  Now,  brother,  I  will 
tell  you  the  most  remarkable  story  of  my  life.  I  participated 
in  many  battles,  including  first  Manassas,  where  I  captured,  with 
my  command,  some  seventy  non-combatants, — Congressman  Ely, 
of  New  York,  and  others.  I  was  ordered  to  Romney  to  recon- 
noiter  a  Federal  force  advancing.  While  near  there,  I  stopped 
at  a  farmhouse,  where  I  found  they  were  Tunkers.  In  conver- 
sation with  the  old  brother,  I  told  him  my  wife  was  a  Tunker. 
He  looked  at  me,  and  asked,  'Did  she  counsel  thee  to  go  to  war 
and  fight?'  I  remembered  her  pleadings  with  me  to  stay  by  the 
fireside,  and  it  smote  me  to  the  heart.     I  at  once  resolved  to  resign 


MISCELLANY.  8oi 

and  go  home.  As  I  was  returning  to  camp,  a  young  man  was 
taken,  on  whose  person  a  letter  was  found  indicted  by  a  Brother 
Leatherman,  giving  full  intelligence  of  our  forces  to  the  enemy. 
The  colonel  commanding  the  expedition  approached  me,  and 
ordered :  'Captain,  go  over  to  that  house  and  take  that  man,  and 
bring  him  along.  There  he  is ;  bring  him.'  I  knew  him  to  be 
a  Tunker,  and  his  crime  punishable  with  death.  I  had  no  alter- 
native but  to  obey ;  so,  taking  a  lieutenant  and  sergeant,  we  rode 
up  to  the  house,  when  I  accosted  him  with,  'Mr.  Leatherman,  L 
am  sent  to  arrest  you.'  'Arrest  me!  What  for?'  'For  that  fool- 
ish letter  of  yours,'  I  said.  He  turned  pale,  but  answered,  'May 
I  go  into  the  house  and  get  some  articles  of  clothing?'  'Cer- 
tainly,' I  answered.  I  waited  outside,  and  inwardly  prayed  to 
be  relieved  of  the  responsibility  of  this  arrest,  as  I  was  more  than 
half  a  Tunker  at  heart.  He  remained  in  the  house  some  time, 
and  I  noticed  that  he  came  to  the  window  and  looked  out  upon 
the  road  several  times.  Then  he  came  down  and  went  to  the 
stable  for  his  horse,  which  he  saddled  and  mounted.  Hearing 
a  clatter  of  horses'  feet  approaching,  I  looked  behind  me,  and  not 
fifty  yards  distant  came  the  Federal  force.  Brother  Leatherman 
road  around  the  house,  and  the  Union  men  fired  a  volley  at  me 
before  I  could  leave  the  yard.  Having  a  good  horse,  I  put  spurs, 
and  got  away  safely.  Arriving  at  camp,  I  at  once  resigned,  and 
went  home. 

"The  war  ended.  The  brethren  commenced  their  meetings 
again,  preaching  peace  on  earth,  good-will  toward  men.  I  was 
baptized  into  the  brotherhood. 

"Some  time  after,  two  men  came  along  by  our  house,  and  asked 
the  road  to  the  Tunker  meeting-house.  I  answered  that  if  they 
stayed  overnight,  I  would  be  their  escort  to  the  meeting.  They 
stopped.  We  took  care  of  the  horses.  One  of  the  brethren  now 
came  forward,  holding  out  his  hand,  with,  'Brother  Harper,  this  is 
a  different  meeting  from  our  last,'  laughing.  T  do  not  know  to 
what  you  refer,'  I  answered.  'Why,  Brother  Harper,'  he  said, 
'don't  you  know  when  you  took  me  a  prisoner,  when  the  Union 
men  came  in  just  the  right  time  to  save  me  from  going  with  you, 
5i 


802  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

while  you  were  forced  to  fly  for  your  life,  with  the  Union  men 
pouring  a  volley  after  you  ?  'Yes,'  said  the  good  brother,  'blessed 
be  God,  this  is  a  far  different  meeting,'  and  we  sealed  it  with  the 
salute  of  the  brethren ;  and,  believe  me,  Brother  Franklin,  it  will 
ever  be  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most  interesting  epochs  of  my 
whole  life." 

Truly,  "truth  is  stranger  than  fiction." 

franklin's   testimony— progression. 

Benjamin  Franklin  in  his  autobiography  says:  "Michael  Wohl- 
fahrt  (an  Ephratah  Tunker)  complained  to  me  that  they  were 
grievously  calumniated  by  the  zealots  of  other  persuasions,  and 
charged  with  abominable  principles  and  practices,  to  which  they 
were  utter  strangers.  I  told  him  this  had  always  been  the  case 
with  new  sects,  and  that,  to  put  a  stop  to  such  abuse,  I  imagined 
it  might  be  well  to  publish  the  articles  of  their  belief  and  the  rules 
of  their  discipline.  He  said  it  had  been  proposed  among  them, 
but  not  agreed  to,  for  this  reason :  'When  we  were  first  drawn 
together  as  a  society,'  said  he,  'it  had  pleased  God  to  enlighten 
our  minds  so  far  as  to  see  that  some  doctrines  which  were 
esteemed  truths  were  errors,  and  that  others  which  we  had 
esteemed  errors  were  real  truths.  From  time  to  time  He  has 
been  pleased  to  afford  us  further  light,  and  our  principles  have 
been  improving  and  our  errors  diminishing.  Now  we  are  not 
sure  that  we  have  arrived  at  the  end  of  this  progression,  and  at 
the  perfection  of  spiritual  or  theological  knowledge,  and  we  fear 
that  if  we  should  once  print  our  confession  of  faith,  we  should 
feel  ourselves  bound  and  confined  by  it,  and  perhaps  unwilling 
to  receive  further  improvement,  and  our  successors  still  more  so, 
as  conceiving  what  their  elders  and  founders  had  done  to  be 
something — never  to  be  departed  from.' 

"This  modesty  in  a  sect  is  perhaps  a  single  instance  in  the  his- 
tory of  mankind.  Every  other  sect,  supposing  itself  in  possession 
of  all  truth,  and  that  those  who  differ  are  so  far  in  the  wrong, 
like  a  man  traveling  in  foggy  weather,  those  at  some  distance 
before  him  on  the  road  he  sees  wrapped  up  in  the  fog,  as  well  as 


MISCELLANY.  803 

those  behind  him,  and  also  the  people  in  the  fields  on  each  side, 
but  near  him  all  appears  clear,  though  in  truth  he  is  as  much  in 
the  fog  as  any  of  them." 

A  MOTHER  IN   ISRAEL,  INDEED. 

Esther  Swigart  Vandyke  was  born  in  Mifflin  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, May  20,  1 83 1.  She  was  married  to  Elder  Archibald  Van- 
dyke, December  18,  1851,  and  united  with  the  German  Baptist 
Church  in  1853.  She  raised  fifteen  children,  and  all  are  members 
of  the  same  church,  with  the  sons  and  sons-in-law  of  those  who 
are  married,  and  the  grandchildren.  Two  of  the  sons  and  three 
of  the  sons-in-law  are  ministers  of  the  gospel.  She  died  near 
Rockford,  Nebraska,  October  2,  1899,  aged  sixty-eight  years  four 
months  and  twelve  days. 

NEW   ARGUMENT   IN    FAVOR   OF   FORWARD   ACTION    IN   BAPTISM. 

We  find  the  following  in  the  Gospel  Visitor  for  May,  1854.  It 
is  from  the  pen  of  Brother  James  H.  Tracy : — 

"Those  who  are  in  favor  of  a  backward  action,  and  rely  so 
much  in  support  of  it  on  Paul's  comparing  baptism  to  a  burial,  in 
Romans  6,  we  would  humbly  beg  to  consider  that  passage  more 
carefully,  and  especially  take  notice  that  Paul  does  not  say  that 
we  have  been  planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  His  burial, 
but  'that  we  have  been  planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  His 
death/  All  will  admit  that  Jesus  died  before  He  was  buried; 
and  we  read  that  His  death  was  on  this  wise,  when  He  had 
finished  His  work,  He  bowed  His  head,  and  gave  up  the  ghost, 
and  then  died.  Hence  we  conclude  that,  inasmuch  as  Christ  died 
by  bowing  His  head,  not  backward,  but  forward,  we  have  been 
planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  His  death  by  a  forward  action, 
and  that  a  backward  action  would  not  be  in  the  likeness  of  His 
death." 

A     REMARKABLE     FAMILY. 

George  and  Rebecca  Myers  were  the  parents  of  fifteen  children, 
fourteen  of  whom  they  raised.     There  were  ten  sons  and  five 


804  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

daughters.  They  were  raised  near  Bearville,  Lancaster  County, 
Pennsylvania,  where  they  were  married  and  started  in  life  about 
1807,  and  there  all  their  children  were  born.  About  the  year 
1834  they  moved  to  Brown  Township,  Mifflin  County,  near  the 
place  where  Kishacoquillas  Seminary  was  subsequently  located. 
There  they  resided  about  fifteen  years,  when  they  retired  from 
active  life,  and  removed  to  the  vicinity  of  Shirleysburg,  Hunting- 
ton County,  where  they  resided  until  the  death  of  the  husband,  in 
August,  1862. 

All  their  children  save  one  became  members  of  the  Tunker 
church,  of  which  their  parents  were  honored  adherents.  Six  of 
the  sons  were  ministers  of  the  same  denomination.  Grabill, 
George,  and  Christian  were  called  to  the  ministry  in  the  German 
Valley  congregation,  at  the  old  stone  meeting-house.  George 
was  elected  about  the  year  1852,  and  Christian  in  1861.  Reuben 
was  called  to  the  ministry  in  Lewiston  church,  Mifflin  County,  in 
1849;  Abram  in  the  Spring  Run  church,  near  McVeyton ;  Isaac 
in  the  Yellow  Creek  church,  Illinois. 

Grabill  Myers  probably  preached  more  sermons  than  any  one 
minister  of  his  denomination  in  the  state.  He  was  actively 
engaged  in  his  calling  for  over  fifty  years.  He  preached  in  every 
congregation  in  his  church  in  the  state,  and  made  several  tours 
through  the  western  states. 

Reuben,  the  second  son,  died  in  Ferguson's  Valley,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1863.  At  the  present  time  (November,  1899)  the  fol- 
lowing are  still  living :  Abram,  at  Adel,  Iowa ;  Christian,  at 
Warble,  Pennsylvania ;  and  John,  in  Boone  County,  Iowa. 

The  mother  of  this  remarkable  family,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Rebecca  Grabill,  was  born  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania. She  died  at  the  house  of  her  son  Christian,  June  24,  1882, 
at  the  age  of  ninety  years,  eight  months,  and  ten  days.  She 
retained  the  faculties  of  her  mind  and  all  the  senses  to  a  remark- 
able extent  to  the  very  last.  She  was  a  consistent  member  of 
the  Tunker  Church  for  about  sixty-two  years. 


MISCELLANY.  805 

THE    REPUTATION     OF     THE     EARLY     TUNKERS. 

Elhanan  Winchester,  in  his  "Dialogues  on  Universal  Restora- 
tion," page  179,  published  in  1787,  describes  the  character  of  the 
Tunkers  of  his  time,  which  might  be  said  to  embrace  the  latter 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  the  following  unmistakable 
language : — 

"Such  Christians  as  they  are  I  have  never  seen.  So  averse  are 
they  to  all  sin,  and  to  many  things  that  other  Christians  esteem 
lawful,  that  they  do  not  only  refuse  to  swear  or  to  go  to  war,  but 
they  are  so  afraid  of  doing  anything  contrary  to  the  commands 
of  Christ  that  no  temptation  would  prevail  upon  them  even  to 
sue  a  person  at  law,  for  either  name,  character,  estate,  or  debt, 
be  it  ever  so  just.  They  are  industrious,  sober,  temperate,  kind, 
charitable  people,  envying  not  the  great  nor  despising  the  mean ; 
they  read  much,  they  sing  and  pray  much,  and  are  constant 
attendants  upon  the  public  worship  of  God.  Their  dwelling- 
houses  are  all  houses  of  prayer.  They  walk  in  the  command- 
ments and  ordinances  of  the  Lord  blameless,  both  in  public  and 
in  private.  They  bring  up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord.  No  noise  of  rudeness,  shameless  mirth, 
loud,  vain  laughter  we  heard  within  their  doors.  The  law  of 
kindness  is  in  their  mouths ;  no  sourness  or  moroseness  disgraces 
their  religion ;  and  whatever  they  believe  their  Saviour  has  com- 
manded, they  practice,  without  inquiring  or  regarding  what  others 
do.  I  remember  the  Rev.  Morgan  Edwards,  formerly  minister 
of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  once  said  to  me,  'God 
always  will  have  a  visible  people  on  earth,  and  these  are  His 
people  at  present,  above  any  others  in  the  world.'  And  in  his 
history  of  the  Baptists  in  Pennsylvania,  in  speaking  of  these 
people,  he  says:  'General  redemption  they  certainly  held,  and 
withal  general  salvation,  which  tenets,  though  wrong,  are  con- 
sistent. In  a  word,  they  are  meek  and  pious  Christians,  and 
have  justly  acquired  the  title  of  the  Harmless  Tunkers.'  "  * 


*  Belcher— Religious  Denominations,  page  293. 


806  HISTORY     OF    THE     TUNKERS. 

CONVENTION  CALL. 

The  following  is  an  important  document  in  the  history  of  the 
Brethren  Church.  It  indicates  the  gravity  with  which  the  early 
church  councils  of  the  denomination  were  regarded,  and  the 
importance  attached  to  the  call  and  announcement  of  their  gen- 
eral conference. 

NATIONAL     CONVENTION     CALL. 

"To  the  Congregations  of  the  Brethren  Church — 

"Greeting:  We,  your  national  executive  committee,  appointed 
by  the  convention  of  1883,  believing  the  requirements  of  the 
brotherhood  demand  a  national  convention  at  an  early  date,  for 
the  purpose  of  consulting  and  advising  upon  measures  and  means 
of  accomplishing  greater  good  in  the  Master's  vineyard,  do  hereby 
issue  a  call  for  such  a  convention  on  Thursday,  November  11, 
1886,  in  the  college  building,  at  Ashland,  Ohio,  to  be  continued 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  convention.  And  we  humbly  hope  this 
call  may  meet  the  approval  of  the  brotherhood. 

"Samuel  C.  Stump,  Chairman. 
"Falls  City,  Nebraska:' 

ANNUAL  MEETING. 

On  this  subject  Brother  A.  H.  Cassel  writes: — 
"I  have  good  authority  for  saying  that  in  early  times  minutes 
were  not  kept  every  year,  neither  was  the  conference  called  yearly 
or  annual  meeting,  because  it  was  not  held  annually,  but  only 
when  there  was  occasion  for  one.  The  first  one  of  which  I  have 
anv  knowledge,  was  held  in  the  Conestoga  church,  about  1743, 
occasioned  by  Count  Zinzendorf,  to  which  George  Adam  Martin 
was  sent  as  a  delegate.  Then  we  have  no  account  of  another  big 
meeting,  as  they  were  called,  till  about  1760,  when  Christopher 
Saur  gave  occasion  for  one.  But  before  the  appointed  time  came, 
matters  were  satisfactorily  adjusted,  and  so  the  proposed  big  meet- 
ing was   recalled. 

"They  were  generally  called  big  love-feasts,  when  the  adjoining 
churches  and  elders  were  invited,  and  then,  if  there  were  any  dif- 
ficulties of  a  general  character,  that  the  individual  church  could 


MISCELLANY.  807 

not  adjust,  it  was  brought  up  either  before  or  after  the  love-feast. 
But  quite  often  there  was  nothing  brought,  so  the  time  was  spent 
in  worship ;  consequently  there  was  nothing  to  place  on  the 
minutes." 

A  number  of  special  councils  were  held.  We  give  the  follow- 
ing:— 

1822,  Canton,  Ohio;  1835,  Montgomery  County,  Ohio;  1840, 
Montgomery  County,  Ohio;  1845,  September  20,  Elkhart,  Indi- 
ana; 1846,  September  4,  Washington  County,  Tennessee;  1848, 
September  23,  Delphi,  Carroll  County,  Indiana;  1851,  November 
22,  on  account  of  the  Far  Western  Brethren,  in  the  Mill  Creek 
church,  Adams  County,  Illinois. 

LAYING  ON  OF  HANDS. 

Hands  were  laid  on  all  church  officers  in  the  early  history  of 
the  Brethren  Church.  This  fact  was  confirmed  in  my  mind  by 
reading  the  diary  of  Christopher  Saur,  of  1780.  Under  date  of 
August  9,  he  says :  "We  laid  hands  [meaning  himself  and  Martin 
Urner]  on  the  following  brethren :  Martin  Gaby,  as  deacon  ;  David 
Kintzy,  as  minister ;  Michael  Frantz,  as  deacon ;  and  Brethren 
George  Bashor  and  Jacob  Meyer,  as  ministers  at  Little  Swatara ; 
and,  on  the  15th  of  August,  on  George  Miller,  at  Big  Swatara,  as 
deacon." 

Originally  the  practice  was  to  have  the  supper  and  communion, 
and  then  wash  feet  before  separating.  Soon  the  error  was  dis- 
covered, and  then  they  washed  between  the  supper  and  com- 
munion. This  practice  was  continued  until  a  learned  man  named 
Heinrich  Reitz,  who  was  the  author  of  a  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  convinced  the  brethren  that  only  preparation  of  the 
supper  was  ended  when  the  Saviour  rose  to  wash  the  disciples' 
feet.  This  occurred  before  the  brethren  came  to  America,  so 
that  the  present  practice  is  older  than  the  church  here. 

Note. — "This  extract  and  above  notes  prove  it  to  be  an  incon- 
trovertible fact  that  the  ancient  brethren  did  instal  all  the  officers 
of  the  church  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  but  never  until  after  they 
had  proven  themselves  as  worthy  and  useful.  This  precaution 
they  observed  with  reference  to  St.   Paul's  charge  to  Timothy 


808  HISTORY    OF     THE    TUNKERS. 

(I  Tim.  5:22),  'Lay  hands  on  no  man  suddenly.'  I  have  also 
records  in  the  handwriting  of  Alexander  Mack  of  different  dates, 
which  are  even  yet  more  to  the  point  than  the  above, — that  they 
laid  hands  not  only  on  the  overseers,  or  elders,  but  on  the  speakers, 
or  preachers,  and  also  on  the  deacons,  or  poor  servers;  which 
custom  was  universally  followed,  until  some  unworthy  ones  began 
to  thirst  after  power,  and  assumed  authority  that  was  never  dele- 
gated to  them  by  the  church,  out  of  which  came  priestcraft,  and 
that  gradually  changed  annual  meeting  from  an  advisory  council 
to  a  judicial  tribunal,  which  domineered  over  God's  heritage  in  so 
far  as  to  forbid  laying  hands  on  any  except  on  their  own  craft 
(bishops),  which  was  necessary  to  establish  their  own  superior- 
ity. And  besides  other  grievances,  it  would  also  forbid  the  wash- 
ing of  feet  after  our  most  ancient  and  sacred  order  of  the  same 
one  washing  and  wiping,  as  Christ  gave  us  the  plain  precept  and 
example.  Abram  H.  Cassel."" 

From  letters  written  to  Elder  J.  B.  Wampler  by  Brother  A.  H. 
Cassel,  we  glean  the  following  items  on  different  subjects.  The 
first  letter  is  dated  June  8,  1886. 

Deaconess. — That  there  were  such  in  the  Brethren  Church  is  a 
fact  that  can  not  be  disputed,  as  I  have  the  names  and  records  of 
several.  They  were  elected  by  vote,  as  other  officers.  Whether 
they  were  installed  by  laying  on  of  hands  I  can  not  say,  but  am 
inclined  to  believe  they  were,  because  the  brethren  were  in  the 
habit  of  installing  all  the  officers  of  the  church  by  imposition  of 
hands,  so  why  not  also  on  the  deaconness,  as  we  know  they  did  on 
the  deacon  ?  And  while  hands  are  laid  on  sisters  in  baptism  the 
same  as  on  brethren,  why  not  when  chosen  to  an  important  office 
in  the  church  ?  I  give  an  extract  of  such  an  election  from  the  old 
Germantown  church-book,  in  the  handwriting  of  Alexander  Mack. 
I  will  give  it  verbatim  et  literatim,  as  follows : — 

"Anno  1769,  den  20  August  ist  hack  dcm  Rath  des  Heligen 
Geistes,  1  Tim.  5,  v.  9,  10,  in  der  Gemeinschaft  dcr  Brucdcr  unal 
Schwestern  nach  der  Weise  and  Ordning  dar  Apostolischen 
Gemeine  dar  erst  en  Christen  durcJi  Wahl  Stimmen  zur  deinerin 
crwahlet  worden  die  Schwester  Margaretha  Baeyerin." 


MISCELLANY.  809 

Translation. — August  20,  1769,  hands  were  laid  on  Sister  Mar- 
garet Baeyerin,  according  to  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in 
accordance  with  1  Tim.  5:9,  10,  in  the  Church  of  the  Brethren, 
after  the  ordinance  of  the  apostle  and  the  early  Christian  Church, 
she  having  been  elected  by  the  congregation  to  the  office  of 
deaconess. 

This  extract,  in  the  quaint  handwriting  of  Alexander  Mack,  I 
think  should  forever  satisfy  all  inquiries  about  deaconesses.  She 
(Margaretha  Baeyerin)  lived  long,  and  appears  to  have  been 
faithful. 

Annual  Meeting. — The  first  big  meeting  the  brethren  ever  held 
was  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  1742.  There  were 
then  special  reasons  that  occasioned  it  which  I  need  not  state. 
But  there  is  no  evidence  of  another  such  meeting  being  held  for 
many  years,  and  I  am  extremely  doubtful  whether  there  was,  for 
there  is  no  record,  no  minute,  and  no  mention  of  anything  of  that 
kind  existing.  But  love-feasts  were  regularly  held.  Then  it  was 
customary,  more  than  now,  to  assemble  from  far  and  near ;  and 
on  such  occasions  difficulties,  if  any  existed,  were  always  adjusted 
by  and  with  the  old  fathers  when  present ;  and  when  difficulties 
of  a  peculiar  or  any  important  nature  occurred,  which  required 
more  time,  and  consideration  which  could  not  then  and  there  be 
given,  then  a  big  meeting  was  appointed  for  the  purpose,  where 
other  queries  were  also  propounded,  if  any  were  brought  up. 
Such  was  the  case  of  the  big  meeting  of  Lancaster  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1763,  concerning  the  Catharine  Hummer  case. 
Another  such  a  big  meeting  (Groszcn  Rath)  was  proposed  in  the 
Christopher  Saur  case,  but  recalled  in  1767.  After  they  had 
established  regular  gatherings  for  councils,  they  still  always 
observed  the  love-feast  and  communion  in  connection  with  them. 
The  custom  was  for  all  the  brethren  and  delegates  to  reach  the 
vicinity  by  Thursday  evening,  that  they  might  meet  on  Friday 
morning  for  business,  which  was  generally  all  transacted  by  Sat- 
urday morning,  or,  at  the  farthest,  by  noon.  Then  public  worship 
commenced,  and  the  communion  in  the  evening,  and  public  meet- 
ing on  Sunday  morning  again.     After  dinner  they  all  dispersed 


8lO  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

to  their  homes.  I  was  present  when  this  was  the  custom,  forty 
years  ago.  As  business  increased,  they  could  sometimes  hardly 
get  through  with  it  in  the  allotted  time,  so  they  changed  to  having 
public  worship  and  communion  first,  either  on  Saturday  or  Sun- 
day evening,  optional  with  the  church  where  the  meeting  was 
held.  Then  business  commenced  on  Monday  morning,  and  closed 
when  through  with  it.  This  is  the  way  the  big  meeting  or  council 
was  held  until  185 1,  when  it  was  decided  to  have  no  communion 
in  connection  with  it.  Meanwhile  there  were  many  changes  in 
the  way  of  choosing  committees  and  doing  business  which  need 
not  be  recounted,  although  there  were  good  reasons  for  them. 

Commencement  of  Annual  Conferences. — When  the  commence- 
ment of  their  being  held  annually  was,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say, 
precisely,  on  account  of  the  various  big  councils.  I  have  the 
report  of  one  at  least,  held  in  Maryland  concerning  the  Charles 
Hudds  case,  in  1814.  There  was  only  that  one  case  brought  up. 
I  have  also  an  account  of  another  big  council,  held  in  1826,  in 
which  there  was  only  one  query  brought  before  the  meeting. 

I  was  also  told  that  on  one  occasion,  after  the  brethren  had  com- 
menced to  meet  annually  in  council,  they  had  no  query  at  all. 
They  then  improved  their  time  in  public  worship.  That  speaks 
well  for  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  brotherhood,  when  elders  were 
the  servants  of  the  church  instead  of  its  leaders. 

"The  Brethren  Encyclopedia." — "The  Brethren  Encyclopedia," 
published  by  Henry  Kurtz,  appears  never  to  have  been  endorsed 
by  the  church,  but  was  severely  criticized  as  soon  as  it  made  its 
appearance.  The  charge  against  it  was  that  Brother  Kurtz  added 
too  much  of  his  own,  and  made  too  much  and  too  free  use  of  his 
own  judgment  in  the  selection  of  what  he  published.  It  was, 
therefore,  branded  as  "Kurtz'  Cyclopedia,"  instead  of  being  the 
brethren's  or  the  cyclopedia  of  the  church. 

Sisters  Breaking  Bread. — In  the  churches  that  were  organized 
on  the  congregational  platform,  and  in  those  of  California,  the 
sisters  break  the  communion  bread  the  same  as  the  brethren. 
Old  brethren  were  often  puzzled  to  give  Scripture  or  reason  for 
sisters  not  doing  so. 


MISCELLANY.  8ll 

The  Kiss.— The  brethren  never  pretended  to  give  Scripture  for 
the  observance  of  the  kiss  during  the  communion  service,  but 
since  our  communions  are  intended  as  a  renewal  of  our  covenant 
with  the  Lord  and  with  one  another,  and  as  a  kiss  has  ever  been 
regarded  as  a  pledge  of  union  and  a  token  of  love,  it  seems  to  me 
as  being  not  out  of  place  around  the  communion  table. 

Communion  and  Passover. — We  believe  that  the  Jewish  Pass- 
over and  the  institution  of  the  communion  were  closely  connected, 
but  we  must  allow  that  our  communions  are  under  different  cir- 
cumstances. We  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  observance  of  the 
Jewish  Passover.  Christ  was  the  end  of  the  law,  and  had  not 
yet  suffered  and  died,  therefore  they  had  no  occasion  to  dis- 
connect the  two  by  speaking  about  it.  But  from  Paul's  expres- 
sion, "As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do 
show  the  Lord's  death  till  He  come,"  we  think  it  right  and  proper 
to  do  so  by  words  rehearsing  a  little  of  His  sufferings,  as  well  as 
by  the  emblems  of  which  we  partake.  But  a  long  sermon  or 
harangue  we  would  think  very  much  out  of  place.  Even  our 
most  ancient  brethren  differed  in  opinion  as  to  whether  we  should 
give  thanks  twice,  or  separate  thanks  for  the  bread  and  the  cup. 

Joseph  Rittenhouse  was  the  first  Tunker  bishop  that  lived  in 
the  Black  River  congregation,  Medina  County,  Ohio.  So  it  is 
claimed  by  his  daughter,  Mary  Hoover,  of  Chatham,  same 
county.  She  was  baptized  December,  1855,  at  the  age  of  nine 
years,  by  Elder  Jacob  Garber. 

Elder  J.  D.  Haughtelin,  of  Panora,  Iowa,  was  born  November 
17,  1835;  was  baptized  October,  1851,  by  Elder  David  Bosser- 
man,  at  Marsh  Creek,  Pennsylvania.  His  brother,  A.  H.  Haugh- 
telin, was  born  August,  1837;  was  baptized  October,  1852,  by 
Elder  Adam  Brown,  at  Friends'  Grove,  Pennsylvania ;  and  died 
December  13,  1899,  in  Reno  County,  Kansas.  I  was  well 
acquainted  with  both  administrators  mentioned. 

When  Elder  John  H.  Umstad,  of  Montgomery  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, baptized  Elder  John  U.  Slingluff,  now  of  Sidney, 
Nebraska,  in  November,  1843,  at  tne  age  of  twelve  years,  it  was 


812  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

intimated  by  some  of  the  elderly  Tunkers  of  Lancaster  County, 
that  before  long  Brother  Umstad  would  be  practicing  infant  bap- 
tism. There  were  isolated  cases  of  child  membership  among  the 
Tunkers  from  the  first,  but  they  were  few  and  far  between,  prior 
to  1855,  especially  in  central  Pennsylvania  and  westward. 

There  were  Sunday-school  tickets  printed  by  Christopher  Saur 
in  1744,  of  which  I  saw  a  sample  in  Brother  Cassel's  library. 
There  were  also  religious  lottery  tickets,  which  were  in  boxes, 
and  from  which  people  drew  Bible  texts,  which  they  regarded,  in 
a  sense,  the  voice  of  God  to  them. 

Name  Brethren. — Alexander  Mack,  Sr.,  founder  of  the 
church,  adopted  the  word  ''brethren"  as  the  name  of  his  church. 
Alexander,  Jr.,  followed  his  father's  example,  and  in  all  the 
records  of  the  church  he  scrupulously  used  that  name,  of  which 
I  could  give  numerous  instances.  Sometimes  he  also  says,  "In 
the  congregation  of  the  brethren."  The  Philadelphia  church 
held  fast  to  the  Bible-alone  doctrine  of  the  old  brethren  in  their 
mode  of  washing  feet,  and  the  name  brethren,  as  their  records 
testify.  The  inscription  on  the  marble  tablet  above  the  door  is, 
"The  Church  of  the  Brethren." 

The  above  is  taken  from  a  communication  of  A.  H.  Cassel  to 
J.  H.  Moore,  dated  June  1,  1886. 

After  a  private  communion  held  at  the  house  of  David  Peebler, 
Lebanon,  Oregon,  October  1,  1899,  Brother  Peebler  stated  that 
the  first  Tunker  Church  in  Iowa  was  organized  at  his  house,  in 
Jefferson  County,  in  1840  or  1841.  Elders  George  Wolfe  and 
Levi  Roberts  presided  at  the  meeting.  Brother  Peebler  was  in 
his  ninety-seventh  year  at  the  time  of  the  communion  referred  to, 
and  performed  the  service  of  washing  and  wiping  feet. 

George  Adam  Martin  first  suggested  the  propriety  of  reading 
the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew  on  baptismal  occasions,  about 
1740.  Previous  to  this  Luke  14  was  used,  bearing  on  the  build- 
ing of  a  tower  without  counting  the  cost. 

Confirmation  by  laying  on  of  hands  was  not  always  observed 
in  the  water.     On  occasions  when  there  were  a  number  of  candi- 


MISCELLANY.  813 

dates  and  the  weather  cold,  it  was  sometimes  deferred  until  after 
the  change  of  clothes,  in  some  of  the  eastern  churches  at  least. 
A  sister  by  the  name  of  Rachel  Kruegar,  or  perhaps  Creger, 
who  afterward  married  Elder  Abraham  Stanley,  used  to  preach 
occasionally,  and  is  said  to  have  exhibited  marked  ability  as  an 
exhorter,  but  she  was  never  authorized  by  any  congregation  to 
preach.  After  her  marriage  she  never  attempted  to  preach,  but 
exercised  freely  in  public  prayer,  in  which  she  was  peculiarly 
gifted.     She  had  a  brother  and  sister  who  were  mutes. 

CHARTER    OF    THE    BRETHREN    CHURCH    OF    CALIFORNIA. 

"State  of  California,  Department  of  State. 

"I,  Edwin  G.  Waite,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia, do  hereby  certify  that  a  copy  of  the  Articles  of  Incor- 
poration of  the  Brethren  Church  certified  by  the  county  clerk  of 
the  county  of  San  Joaquin  as  a  copy  of  such  articles  filed  in  his 
office,  was  filed  in  this  office  on  the  22d  day  of  August,  a.  d.  1891, 
which  articles  and  the  copy  thereof  contained  the  required  state- 
ment of  facts,  to  wit :  First,  the  name  of  the  corporation  as  afore- 
said ;  second,  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  framed ;  third,  the  place 
where  its  principal  business  is  to  be  transacted ;  fourth,  the  term 
for  which  it  is  to  exist ;  fifth,  the  number  of  its  directors  or 
trustees,  and  the  names  and  residences  of  those  who  are  appointed 
for  the  first  year. 

"And  I  do  hereby  further  certify  that  the  Articles  of  Incor- 
poration set  forth  the  holding  of  the  election  for  directors,  the  time 
and  place  where  the  same  was  held,  that  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers of  such  associations  were  present  and  voted  at  such  elec- 
tion, and  the  result  thereof,  which  facts  were  verified  by  the 
officers  conducting  the  election.  Witness  my  hand  and  the 
Great  Seal  of  State  at  Office  in  Sacramento,  California,  this,  the 
twenty-second  day  of  August,  A.  d.  1891.  E.  G.  Waite, 

''Secretary  of  State." 

Trustees:  J.  W.  Beer,  C.  H.  Christenson,  Ed.  Reynolds,  and 
D.  E.  Ronk.     John  P.  Wolf,  resident  minister. 


814  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

BRETHREN    CHURCH    CHARTER    OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

"To  the  Hon.  Robt.  L.  Johnson,  President  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  Cambria  County — 

"Be  it  known  that  the  subscribers  with  their  associates  having 
formed  a  congregation  in  Johnstown,  Cambria  County,  and 
state  of  Pennsylvania,  for  the  purpose  of  worshiping  Almighty 
Cod  accordingly  to  the  faith,  doctrine,  and  usages  of  the  Breth- 
ren Church,  and  being  desirous  of  becoming  incorporated  agree- 
ably to  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  the 
commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  entitled,  'An  act  to  provide 
for  the  incorporation  and  regulation  of  certain  corporations,' 
approved  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  April,  a.  d.  1874,  do  hereby 
declare,  set  forth,  and  certify  that  the  following  are  the  purposes, 
objects,  articles,  and  conditions  of  their  said  associations,  for 
and  upon  which  they  desire  to  be  incorporated. 

"First.  The  name  of  the  corporation  shall  be  the  Brethren 
Church. 

"Second.  The  said  corporation  is,  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
perpetuating  and  extending  the  Christian  religion  and  the  influ- 
ence of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  to  that  end  to  promote  the 
harmony,  efficiency,  and  progress  of  all  local  Brethren  Churches 
in  the  United  States  without  interfering  with  congregational 
control  and  government,  or  seeking  to  set  up  or  establish  any 
creed  but  the  New  Testament.  To  further  that  purpose  all 
members  of  Brethren  Churches  may  become  members  of  this 
corporation. 

"Third.  The  location  or  principal  center  of  said  corporation 
is  to  be  at  Johnstown,  Cambria  County,  and  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, which  is  to  be  its  principal  place  of  business  and  confer- 
ence. 

"Fourth.     The  corporation  is  to  have  perpetual  existence. 

"Fifth.  The  names  and  residences  of  the  subscribers  are  as 
follows :  Solomon  Benshoff,  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania ;  Daniel 
Crofford,  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania;  S.  A.  Snook,  Johnstown, 
Pennsylvania ;  W.  A.  Adams,  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania ;  M.  W. 
Keim,  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania;  Benjamin  BenshofT,  Johnstown, 


MISCELLANY.  815 

Pennsylvania;  Benjamin  Gochnour,  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania; 
Abel  Findley,  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania;  S.  J.  Giffin,  Johnstown, 
Pennsylvania ;  D.  F.  Ramsey,  East  Conemaugh,  Pennsylvania ; 
Hiram  Gochnour,  East  Conemaugh,  Pennsylvania;  Patrick 
O'Neil,  East  Conemaugh,  Pennsylvania;  George  Berkeybile, 
East  Conemaugh,  Pennsylvania;  Jacob  M.  Cartney,  East  Cone- 
maugh,  Pennsylvania. 

"The  corporation  has  no  capital  stock.  The  membership 
thereof  shall  be  composed  of  the  subscribers  and  their  associates, 
and  of  such  other  persons  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  admitted 
in  such  manner  and  upon  such  requirements  as  may  be  prescribed 
by  the  by-laws.  The  said  corporation  shall,  nevertheless,  have 
power  to  exclude,  expel,  or  suspend  for  just  and  legal  causes, 
and  in  such  legal  manner,  as  may  be  ordained  and  directed  by 
the  by-laws. 

i( Sixth.  The  oversight  and  management  of  the  said  corpora- 
tion shall  be  vested  in  a  board  of  three  trustees,  a  majority  of 
whom  shall  be  laymen,  and  such  officers  of  the  corporation  as 
may,  under  the  by-laws,  be  trustees  ex  officio.  The  said  trustees 
shall  be  elected  annually  by  the  adult  members  of  the  corpora- 
tion from  among  the  adult  male  members  of  the  same  on  the 
twenty-second  day  of  May,  at  the  house  of  worship  of  said  cor- 
poration. The  said  trustees  shall  hold  their  office  until  their 
successors  are  legally  elected ;  subject,  nevertheless,  to  the  power 
of  dismissal  of  any  trustee  and  trustees  from  the  said  office  by 
the  said  corporation  for  legal  cause  and  upon  such  proper  and 
legal  notice  and  hearing  as  may  be  provided  by  the  by-laws. 
The  names  and  residences  of  those  chosen  trustees  for  the  first 
year  and  who  shall  hold  office  until  the  next  annual  election  of 
trustees,  are  Benjamin  Benshoff,  M.  W.  Keim,  and  Daniel 
Crofford,  all  of  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania. 

"The  corporation  shall  have  power  to  hold,  purchase,  and 
transfer  such  real  and  personal  property  as  its  purpose  may 
require,  not  exceeding  the  amount  limited  by  law,  and  all  the 
property  thereof  shall  be  taken  and  held  subject  to  the  control 
and  disposition  of  the  members  of  the  corporation. 


816  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

"Seventh.  The  by-laws  of  this  corporation  shall  be  deemed 
and  taken  to  be  its  law,  subordinate  to  the  statute  aforesaid,  this 
charter,  the  constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  They 
shall  be  altered  and  amended  as  provided  for  by  one  of  the 
by-laws  themselves,  and  shall  prescribe  the  power  and  functions 
of  the  trustees  herein  mentioned,  and  those  thereafter  to  be 
elected,  the  times  and  place  of  meeting  of  the  trustees  and  of  this 
corporation  both  for  business  and  religious  purposes,  the  num- 
ber of  members  that  shall  constitute  a  quorum  at  the  meetings  of 
the  corporation  and  of  the  trustees,  the  qualifications  and  manner 
of  electing  members,  the  manner  of  selecting  officers,  and  the 
power  and  duties  of  such  officials,  and  all  other,  the  concerns  and 
internal  management  of  the  said  corporation. 

"Witness  our  hands  and  seals  this  28th  day  of  May,  1884. 

"Signed,  Solomon  Benshoff  (L.  S.),  Daniel  Crofford  (L.  S.), 
and  others. 

"And  now,  June  26,  1884,  this  petition  having  been  presented 
to  the  undersigned,  president  judge  of  the  forty-seventh. judicial 
district,  accompanied  by  proof  of  the  publication  of  notice 
thereof,  and  the  same  having  been  perused,  and  examined,  and 
found  to  be  in  proper  form,  and  within  the  proposed  named  in 
the  act  of  Assembly  of  the  29th  of  April,  1874,  and  that  the  same 
is  lawful  and  not  injurious  to  the  community,  the  same  is  hereby 
approved.  R-  L.  Johnston, 

"President  Judge  47th  District." 

snow  hill  nunnery. 

This  institution  is  one  of  the  landmarks  of  the  early  Tunkers. 
Its  history  will  be  found  elsewhere.  The  buildings  are  old  and 
dilapidated,  practically  worthless,  but  the  land  belonging  to  the 
estate  has  become  very  valuable.  There  having  been  no  regu- 
larly-organized resident  society  connected  with  this  institution 
and  no  regular  services  held  on  the  premises,  for  a  number  of 
years,  the  state  of   Pennsylvania  has   instituted   proceedings  to 


MISCELLANY.  817 

have  the  property  escheated  to  the  commonwealth,  and  it  is  likely 
that  the  courts  will  sustain  the  case  of  the  state. 

It  appears  that  Andrew  Snowberger  was  the  first  prior  of  the 
order  of  the  Seventh-day  German  Baptist  monastical  order.  On 
September  22,  1823,  he  sold  his  farm,  consisting  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  to  the  Seventh-day  German  Baptist  Society  of 
Snow  Hill,  for  $16,334. 

Peter  Lehman,  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  church,  died  Janu- 
ary 4,  1823,  and  Snowberger  died  in  1825,  and  he  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Samuel. 

About  the  year  1845  tne  monastical  order  began  to  languish. 
From  thirty  inmates  of  the  convent  the  number  dropped  to 
twenty,  and  then  still  less.  After  1894  Sallie  Ann  Calimer  and 
Dolly  Misener  were  admitted  to  the  convent.  Miss  Misener 
died,  and  was  the  last  nun  of  the  cloister.  Several  persons  still 
reside  in  the  building  as  objects  of  charity,  supported  by  the 
trustees  of  the  church.  The  signers  of  the  articles  of  the  asso- 
ciation of  the  monastical  society  in  1883,  were  the  following: 
John  Snowberger,  Henry  Bauman,  Barbara  Lehman,  Elizabeth 
Snowberger,  Catharine  Hoch,  Barbara  Snowberger,  Veronica 
Snowberger,  Susannah  Fyock,  Hannah  Fyock,  Mary  Fyock, 
Nancy  Toms,  Solomon  Monn,  Charles  Hoch,  Samuel  Snowber- 
ger, and  David  Snowberger. 

A  communion  was  held  at  the  church  connected  with  the 
nunnery,  during  the  year  1900,  at  which  it  is  estimated  over  five 
hundred  persons  were  present.  Jacob  Diamond  and  John  G. 
King,  of  Morrison's  Cove,  Pennsylvania,  were  the  visiting  min- 
isters. Those  who  were  present  report  the  services  as  having 
been  cold  and  formal,  with  no  indications  of  the  life  and  devotion 
witnessed  at  the  same  services  fifty  years  ago. 

DOLLY    MISENER. 

This  aged  lady,  now  the  only  inmate  of  the  once  flourishing 
nunnery  at  Snow  Hill,  Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania,  we  think 
deserves  a  notice  in  our  history.  She  is  in  her  ninetieth  year,  a 
well-preserved  old  lady.     Her  ancestors  were  members  of  the 

52 


8l8  HISTORY     OF     THE     TUNKERS. 

Tunker  Church,  some  of  them  prominent,  being  ministers.  Of 
a  family  of  eleven  children,  she  was  the  only  one  that  united 
with  the  Seventh-day  Baptists.  She  delights  to  talk  of  the  days 
of  her  youth,  when  she  was  engaged  with  her  spinning-wheel 
during  winter,  or  working  with  the  new-mown  grass  in  the 
meadow,  helping  to  convey  the  same  to  the  barn  after  it  was 
dried  into  hay,  during  summer. 

One  mile  north  of  the  nunnery,  or  the  cloister,  she  was  born, 
the  place  being  now  in  the  suburbs  of  the  beautiful  village  of 
Quincy.  One  mile  east  of  this,  the  historic  South  Mountains 
rise  in  majestic  splendor.  The  Cumberland  Valley  Railroad 
passes  through  the  farm  on  which  she  was  reared.  This  is  on 
the  banks  of  the  old  Antietam,  where  the  red  men  of  the  forest 
held  high  carnival  long  years  ago.  Dolly's  cheerful  disposition, 
no  doubt,  is  the  cause  of  her  long  and  happy  life.  She  is  one  of 
the  oldest  if  not  the  oldest  person  in  Quincy  Township.  During 
winter  she  does  not  go  out  much,  but  during  summer  she  still  walks 
across  the  meadow  to  the  old  white  church,  to  meeting.  This 
building  stands  very  near  the  spot  on  which  the  first  nunnery 
church  was  built,  and  projected  by  Conrad  Beisel,  in  the  year 
1765. 

Dolly  is  venerated  by  old  and  young.  Her  happy  playmates 
have  long  since  passed  away,  but  she  has  formed  new  acquaint- 
ances, who  love  to  give  her  company,  and  to  whom  she  will  con- 
verse of  old  and  new  events  much  more  intelligently  than  many 
young  persons  who,  apparently,  are  better  educated. 

Miss  Misener  died  some  time  during  the  year  1900,  hence 
there  was  not  living  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  a 
single  representative  of  Conrad  Beisel's  wonderful  enthusiasm. 
The  Germantown  Tunkers  did  well  to  follow  the  advice  of  the 
wise  centurion,  in  not  dealing  too  rigorously  with  the  Ephratah 
people;  the  inspiration  not  being  of  the  Lord,  it  required  only 
to  be  left  alone,  and  a  natural  death  would  follow. 


MISCELLANY.  819 

THE  LITTLE  TUNKERESS. 

BY   GEO.  W.  STOUDER. 

Brown-eyed  Ruth,  the  Tunker's  daughter, 

In  her  dress  of  simple  gray, 
Walked  beside  her  quiet  grandpa, 

'Mid  the  garden  flowers  of  May. 

Beds  of  tulips,  bright  and  golden, 

Hyacinths  of  every  shade, 
Pansies,  like  sweet,  childish  faces, 

Looking  up  to  greet  the  maid. 

How  they  reveled  in  the  sunshine  ! 

While,  'mid  clumps  of  violets  blue, 
Filling  all  the  air  with  fragrance, 

Glistened  still  the  morning  dew. 

Then  out  spoke  the  little  maiden, 

Looking  at  her  dress  of  gray, 
'  Grandpa,  can  you  tell  the  reason 

Why  God  made  the  flowers  so  gay, 

'While  we  wear  the  quiet  colors 

That  you  know  we  never  meet 
E'en  in  clover  or  the  daises 
That  we  trample  underfeet? 

'  Seems  to  me  a  Tunker  garden 

Should  not  grow  such  colors  bright." 
Roguishly  the  brown  eyes  twinkled, 
While  her  grandpa  laughed  outright. 

'True  it  is,  my  little  daughter, 

Flowers  wear  not  the  Tunker  gray, 
But  they  neither  toil  nor  labor 

For  their  beautiful  array. 

'Feeling  neither  pride  nor  envy, 

'Mong  her  sister  flowers,  she  grows, 
Well  content  to  be  a  daisy, 

Or  a  tall  and  queenly  rose, 


S20  HISTORY    OF    THE    TUNKERS. 

"Keeping  still  the  same  old  fashions 
Of  their  grandmama's  of  yore; 
Else  how  should  we  know  the  flowers, 
If  each  spring  new  tints  they  wore? 

"  Even  so  the  Tunker  maiden 

Should  be  quite  content  to-day, 
Like  a  tulip  or  a  pansy, 
In  her  dress  of  simple  gray." 

Once  again  the  brown  eyes  twinkled; 

"Grandpa,  you  are  always  right; 
So  you  see,  by  your  own  showing, 

Some  may  dress  in  colors  bright. 

"Those  whom  you  call  worldly  people, 
In  their  purple  and  their  gold, 
Are  no  gayer  than  these  pansies 
Or  their  grandmothers  of  old. 

"Yet  you  know  I  am  contented 
With  this  quiet  life  of  ours; 
Still,  for  all,  I'm  glad,  my  grandpa, 
That  there  are  no  Tunker  flowers." 


INDEX 


Advice,    Fatherly 115 

Alamena,    Mich 552 

Ankenytown,    0 522 

Antietam,  Old  Order  Troubles..  218 

Apostolic    Succession 34 

Appanoose,    la 554 

Arnold's  Grove  Trial 517 

Ashland,   Elders'    Council 555 

Augwich,     Pa 162 

Aurelia,    la 561 

Baptists,    The 29 

Baptists,    First 36 

Baptism  is   Immersion 87 

Beginning   of   Old   Order   Trou- 
bles       418 

Beggarstown,    Pa 130 

Berlin    Committee    Report 501 

Berlin    Situation 509 

Bermudian     153 

Blood  of  Things   Strangled 105 

Brethren    Church — Biographical.   642 

Bashor,    S.    H 642 

Bauman,    Mary   Wagoner...  644 

Bauman,    Wm.    J.    H 644 

Bauman,    Louis    S 643 

Beaver,    P.   H 647 

Beachley,   U.   M 646 

Beer,  Joseph  W 650 

Bemenderfer,    A.    R 652 

Benshoff,     Solomon 652 

Benshoff,    Benj 654 

Bole,    Daniel   J 654 

Bowman,  J.    L 656 

Bowman,    Joseph 658 

Broadhurst,    Stephen 658 

Brown,    P.   J 659 

Burnworth.    J.    H 660 

Byers,    William 660 

Cadwallader,    John 662 

Chrisman,    John 664 

Copp,    George    A 664 

Darling.   Roger   E 666 

Ditch,   L.   W 667 

Early,    J.    B 667 

Ebe,    Henry 669 

Ensloe,    H.    S 669 

Flora,    Noah 670 

Flora,    Clara 670 

Forney,     Christian 672 

Frantz,    Henry  J 673 

Furry,    S.    B 674 


Gillin,   J.    L 676 

Grisso,    S.    B 677 

Hady,    M 678 

riaskins,    E.    E 680 

Hansel,    Strother 681 

Hazlett,  L.  A 681 

Heckman,    Hannah 682 

Hedricks,     L.    Grossnickle.  .  682 

Herrington,    William    H 683 

Hetric,   D.   J 686 

Hopkins,    Daniel    A 686 

Ingleright,  A.  J 686 

Jerrold,    E.    M 688 

Kellar,    J.    R 689 

Keifer,   William    690 

Killhemer,    Isaac 692 

Kimmel,   J.   L 693 

Knepper,  John   Henry 693 

Leedy,    Isaac 696 

Leedy,    Samuel    A 697 

Livengood,    Z.   T 698 

Lyon,  W.   M 698 

Mackey,   J.    C 700 

Meyers,    M.    C 700 

Meyers,   M.    C,    Mrs 701 

Meyer,    Waldemer 701 

McClain,    W.    S 702 

Miller,   Daniel 706 

Miller,    E.    S 710 

Miller,   Wm.    Henry 712 

Moomaw,  D.  C 702 

Murr,    Henry 713 

Myers,    John    A 713 

Myers,    Jonathan 714 

Nicholson,   John '.  .  720 

Reed,  *A.    P 721 

Reichard,  V.   M 722 

Replogle,   R.   Z 724 

Roop,    J.    E 726 

Schlisler,   B.   F 728 

Schuler,    Lydia 728 

Shively,    Martin 730 

Smith,  Eugene  H 731 

Sterling,    John 734 

Sterling,   Mary  M 735 

Stump,    S.   C 736 

Summers,  W.  W 738 

Tally,    J.    0 739 

Teeter,    R.    R 740 

Teeter,     Elias 740 

Thomas,  Michael  J 742 

(821) 


822 


INDEX. 


Tombaugh,    James    M 743 

Wampler,    J.    B 744 

Wengert,  J.  W 744 

Whitacre,    Robert 740 

White,    M.    S.    747 

Witter,    M.   A 75* 

Winey.   J.    G 747 

Wilt,   S.   W 747 

Wolfe,  George    752 

Wolfe,  John   P 755 

Wood,   L.    G 756 

Yoder,    C.    F 758 

Yoder,    E.    L 75° 

Brethren     Church  —  Congrega- 
tional       552 

Alamena,    Mich 552 

Ankneytown,    0 552 

Appanoose,    la 554 

Ashland,    0 555 

Altoona,   Pa 605 

Aurelia,   la 561 

Beaver    City,    Neb 562 

Bear   Creek,   0 563 

Berlin,    Pa 564 

Bethel,    Ind 567 

Bethel,    Ark 567 

Brooklyn,    la 568 

Buckeye    City,   0 57° 

Campbell,    Mich 570 

Chaparal,  The,   Cal 573 

Chicago    Mission,    111 573 

Cowanshannoc,     Pa 574 

Darwin,     Ind 577 

Dunlaps,   Ind 575 

Edna  Mills,  Ind 576 

Enon,    la 576 

Fair  Haven,  0 580 

Fairview,    Ind 581 

Fairview,    Pa * 581 

Falls    City,    Neb 582 

Fredericksburg,    Pa 605 

Glade  Run,  Pa 583 

Gretna,    0 584 

Homer,    0 584 

Illiokota    Conference 584 

Lanark,    111 588 

Loree,    Ind 590 

Lower  Valley   of  Va 59* 

Maple   Grove,    Kan 592 

Mount    Zion,    0 593 

Manor,    Pa 593 

McLouth,     Kan 594 

Mexico,    Ind 594 

Meyersville,  Pa 595 

Milford,    Ind 600 


Milledgeville,    111 601 

Millersburg,    la 602 

Morrison's    Cove,    Pa 602 

McKee,    Pa 602 

Mt.  Olive,  W.  Va 605 

Mulvane,    Kan 605 

New  Virginia,  la 606 

Nickerson,    Kan 607 

Northern    Indiana 608 

North  Liberty,   Ind 609 

North    Solomon,    Kan 609 

Oakville,    Ind :....  610 

Oakland,    Pa 611 

Ohio  Statistical  Report 612 

Philadelphia,    Pa 613 

Pittsburgh,    Pa 619 

Pleasant   Hill,    0 621 

Pleasant    Valley,    Mich 622 

Pleasant    View,    Ind 624 

Pleasant  View,  Kan 624 

Pony    Creek,    Kan 624 

Roann,    Ind 625 

Round  Hill,  Va 626 

Salem,    Ind 627 

Salisbury,     Pa 627 

Silver    Creek,    0 628 

Southern    California 629 

South    Haven,    Kan 631 

Stony   Creek,   Pa 632 

Sugar    Creek,    la 633 

Summit    Mills,    Pa 633 

Sunnyside,    Wash 634 

Tiosa,    Ind 634 

Turlock,    Cal 635 

Uniontown,     Pa 635 

Valley,    Pa 635 

Warsaw,     Ind 636 

Washington,    D.    C 637 

West    Independence,    0 637 

Waterloo,     la 579 

Winchester,    0 638 

Zion   Hill,   0 638 

Brethren    Church—Historical...  470 

A   Serious   Departure 480 

Ashland   Convention 529 

Berlin   Committee  Report...   501 

Berlin    Situation    509 

Church    Charters 815 

Church  Statistical  Report...   547 
First    General    Conference.  .   539 
First    Meeting   of    Progress- 
ives       526 

Financial     548 

Confirmation  of  Berlin  Com- 
mittee        514 


INDEX. 


823 


Dayton    Conference 540 

Declaration  of   Principles...   530 
Holsinger's     First     Antago- 
nism  to   A.   M 476 

Holsinger's    Defense   ....520-525 
Letters   from  Moses   Miller.   492 

Schoolhouse   No.  7 471 

Standing    Committee — Reply 

to    Progressive   Committee  527 
Standing  Committee — A   Se- 
cret   Organization 489 

Transitional    470 

The     Progressive     Christian 

and   Annual    Meeting 495 

Progressives      Opposed      to 

New    Organization 536 

Purchase  of  Brethren  Evan- 
gelist   Publishing  House..   546 
Name      of      Convention 

Changed    547 

Names  of  Delegates 541 

Statistical    Report 547 

Brethren    Church    Charters 815 

Bridge  at    Schwarzenau    -  41 

Bridgewater   College 283 

Bridgewater— Illustration    284 

Brownsville,    Md 163 

Brush    Creek,    Mo 193 

Bowman    Brethren 761 

Christian    Libe    126 

Chronicon    Ephratense    118 

Church  Territory  Defined 208 

Congregational    Brethren 762 

Conversation      Between      Father 

and    Son y^ 

Conversions     240 

Councils— District    and    General.   208 

Danish    Missions 166 

Davidische   Psalterspiel    263 

Dayton    Convention 540 

Deacons,    Election    of 238 

Declaration    of    Principles 530 

Denominational     273 

Discipline    of    Members 208 

Doctrinal     207 

Early  Internal   Troubles 121 

Educational    281 

Eight    37 

Election    of    Officers 203 

Election    of   Elders 233 

Election    of    Ministers 234 

Election  of  Deacons 238 

Elkhart,    Ind 172 

Ephrata    Movement 136 

Ephrata,   Decline   of 143 


Epistolary    History 774 

Letters       from       Alexander 

Mack,    Jr 774 

Letters        from       Alexander 

Mack,    Jr 780 

Letters     from    John     Hilde- 

brand    775 

Letters  from  Michael  Pfautz  779 
Letters  from  Michael  Frantz  781 
Letters  from  John  Price.  . .  .  782 
Letters      from      Christopher 

Saur     784 

Letters  from  Grabill  Myers.  792 
Letters  from  Isaac  Price....  794 
Letters  from  B.  F.  Moomaw  795 

Eider   River 41 

Everlasting    Torment 113 

Excommunications    85-109 

Excuses  of  Unbelievers in 

Expelled    Members 273 

Faith     101 

Far    Western    Brethren 762 

Feet  Washing,  A.  H.  Cassel 219 

Feet    Washing,    Geo.    Hoke 231 

First     General      Convention     of 

Brethren    Church 539 

First  Work   in   America 125 

First  Revival  in  Miami  Valley.  .  206 

Finances — German    Baptists 276 

Flat    Rock,    Va 174 

Flight    to    America 122 

Form  of  Worship 232 

Germantown    Parsonage 130 

Germantown   Church,     Old     and 

New    131 

German     Baptists — Biographical.   295 

Albaugh,    H.    P 295 

Bowman,    G.    C 295 

Brumbaugh,    Geo 296 

Brumbaugh,    G.    W 296 

Brumbaugh,    John    W 298 

Brumbaugh.  H.   B 298 

Beaver,    Adam 299 

Becker,    Peter 300 

Boyer,    Allen 300 

Brown,     Adam 302 

Caylor,     Elias 304 

Calvert,    Mills 306 

Cassel.    Abraham    N 310 

Clair,  Aaron  L 312 

Crosswhite.    Jes^e 314 

Ebersole,    John    P 315 

Eby,    Enoch 316 

Eikenberry,   W.   L 323 

Eshelman,    M.    M 319 


824 


INDEX. 


Fahrney,  Jacob 324 

Flory,    J.    S 325 

Forrer,    Katharine 326 

Fox,  John 307 

Frantz,  Michael 327 

Furry,    Leonard 327 

Gish,  James  R 328 

Hamilton,   Heil 334 

Hanawalt,    Geo 329 

Hanawalt.  Joseph  R 332 

Hauger,    Jacob    H 332 

Holsinger,    Geo.    B 336 

Holsinger,  Daniel  M 339 

Hope,  Christian 339 

Hoover,    Cyrus 344 

Hoover,    John 344 

Hoover,    Samuel    W 342 

Keyser,  Peter,  Jr 344 

Kline,    John 347 

Koontz,    Henry 349 

Kurtz,    Henrv 350 

Lint,  C.  G...'. 355 

Lichty,  Jacob  M 356 

Lichty,  Jonas  A 356 

Lyon,    Michael 356 

Maddocks,  Thomas  B 357 

Mack,  Alexander,  Jr 357 

Mack,   Alexander,   Sr 359 

Major,    Sarah   Righter 359 

Mohler,    Samuel 366 

Metzger,  John 361 

Murry,  Samuel  and  wife.  . .  .  303 

Musselman,    Hiram 368 

Meyers,  Jacob  T • . .  .  369 

Meyers,   T.   T 368 

Myers,    Grabill 370 

Myers,    Isaac 371 

Myers,  Oscar  R 369 

Neher,    Martin 373 

Pfautz,   Michael   H 374 

Price,    Isaac 377 

Price,  William  W 376 

Quinter,  James 380 

Roberts,    Levi 386 

Rothenberger,    Philip 388 

Royer.  J.   G 389 

Sayler,   Daniel   P 390 

Saur,    Christopher,    Sr 392 

Sharp.   S.  Z 394 

Sontag,    Jacob 375 

Sturgis,   D.  B 396 

Snyder,  Thomas  G 396 

Thomas.   Michael 398 

Umstad.  John  H 398 

Wolfe.    George 401 


Wrightsman.    Daniel 410 

Wrightsman.    Peter    R 406 

Zuck,  Jacob  M 410 

Zug,  John 4X4 

German    Baptist — Congregational  160 

Antietam,  Pa 160 

Aughwick.   Pa 162 

Brownsville,    Md 163 

Coal     Creek,    111 164 

Danish    Missions 166 

Dry    Creek,    la 170 

Elkhart,    Ind 172 

Flat    Rock,    Va 174 

Hickory  Grove,  0 175 

Little  Conewago,  Pa 176 

Mahoning,    0 177 

Marsh  Creek,  Pa 179 

Maquoketa,    la 180 

Monocacy,    Md 181 

Morrison's  Cove,  Pa 182 

Naperville,    111 183 

Oregon    Coast 183 

Philadelphia,    Pa 186 

Panther  Creek,  111 187 

Sharpsburg,    Md 188 

Spring    Run,    Pa 191 

Southwestern  Missouri 192 

South    Waterloo,    la 194 

Southern    California 196 

Solomon's    Creek,    Ind 198 

Tennessee    Churches 199 

Wolf  Creek,  0 203 

Western    Pennsylvania 201 

Walnut   Creek,  Mo 192 

German   Baptist — Historical 273 

German   Baptist  Missions 275 

George  Hoke,  Notes  by 226 

Glossary i3-*7 

Grand    River 192 

Great  Swamp 159 

Grove    Church,    Pa 243 

God,  the  Progenitor  of  the  Hu- 
man  Race 255 

Hickory  Grove,  0 175 

Holsinger' s    Defense 520 

Holsinger's  Remarks  to  Ashland 

Elders    558 

Honites    712 

Huntington  Normal 291 

Huntington  Normal— Illustration  292 
Huntington    Normal— Faculty.  . .   291 

India    Missions 275 

Important     Importation 134 

Introduction  to  Mack's   Book....   46 
Key  to  Illustrations 18-24 


INDEX. 


825 


Kindred    Fraternities 759 

Kingdom  of  God 32 

Krefeld    121 

Leedy    Brethren 767 

Letter  from  Elder  Moses  Miller.  492 
Litigation  of  Church  Property. . .  456 

Little    Swataura    157 

Little    Conewago 176 

Literature    263 

Literature,    German   Baptist 2.T] 

List  of  Authors  Quoted  24 

Lord's    Supper 83 

Lordsburg    College 288 

Lordsburg   College— Illustration .  289 

Love   10 

Love-feast,  Tunker   249 

Los    Angeles 198 

Los   Angeles — Illustration 197 

Mack's   Book    (Translated) 45 

Mack's   Book,  Preface 45 

McPherson    College 284 

McPherson     College  —  Illustra- 
tions      280,  281,  282 

Mahoning,  0 177 

Maquoketa,    la 180 

Mandatory    Decisions 211 

Matrimony    106 

Memorial 526 

Memorial,    Committee   on 527 

Memorial,    Reply   to 527 

Mission    125 

Missionary,    German    Baptist....  275 

Miami  Valley  Council 444 

Mineral  Creek,  Mo 192 

Miscellaneous    797 

Forming  Public  Sentiment.  .  798 

Encouragements    799 

A  Tunker  War  Episode....  800 

Franklin's  Testimony 802 

A  Mother  in  Israel  Indeed. .  803 
Forward  Action   in   Baptism  803 

A  Remarkable  Family 803 

Reputation  of  the  Early  Tun- 

kers     805 

Convention    Call 806 

Little   Tunkeress    819 

Laying  on  of  Hands 808 

Annual  Meeting 810 

Brethren    Encyclopedia 812 

Sisters  Breaking  Bread 812 

Communion  and   Passover.  .  812 

Misner,   Dolly 819 

Moravians 759 

Morrison's    Cove.    Pa 182 

Monocacv,    Md 181 


Mount    Morris    College 285 

Mount  Morris  College — Illustra- 
tion   285 

Naperville,   111 183 

Nevada,  Mo 193 

Northkill,    Pa 153 

North  Manchester  College 290 

Oaths,  Taking  of 95 

Oley,   Pa 154 

Old  German   Baptist — Biographi- 
cal       460 

Cover,  J.  1 460 

Davy,   Elder  H.   D 462 

Flory,     Christopher 462 

Kinsey,    Samuel 464 

Long,    George 460 

Nead,     Peter 467 

Price,    Jacob 460 

Old    German    Baptists— Histori- 


cal 


415 


Complaints  of     Fast     Move- 
ment      422 

First  Petition 417 

Miami  Valley  Council 444 

Sayler's    Report     to    Elders' 

Council    424 

Reply  to  Elders'  Council...  434 
Objections   to   Prayer   Meet- 
ing       424 

Oregon    Coast   Churches 183 

Officers'  Election    236 

Old       German       Baptist       Price 

Church     461 

Ordination  of  Elders 236 

Olive    Branch 5^ 

Organization    in    Germany    35 

Organization    in    America 129 

Oimanites    yyi 

Outline   of    Contents    9-12 

Panther  Creek,  111 107 

Petition,  First  O.  O 420 

Persecutions     38-122 

Pietists     30 

Philadelphia,    Pa.,    German    Bap- 
tists        r86 

Philadelphia,    Pa.,    Brethren 613 

Platsburg    College 282 

Preaching  Instead  of  Dancing.  .  205 

Preface    3 

Prehistoric    25 

Publishing  House,  German  Bap- 
tist   278 

Publishing  House,  German  Bap- 
tist— Illustration    278 

Quaint    Inscriptions 45 


826 


INDEX. 


Questions  and  Answers 52 

Quinter,    Elder    James 380 

Reward   of  the   Faithful 112 

Resolution   of    Elders 450 

River     Brethren 773 

Sayler's   Deposition 210 

Schuylkill,    Coventry,    Pa 155 

Schwarzenau,   Germany    40 

Self-examination     95 

Sharpsburg,   Md 188 

Shoal  Creek,  Mo IQ3 

Solomon's  Creek,  Ind 198 

Southern    California 196 

South  Waterloo,  la 194 

South  Waterloo,  la. — Illustration  195 

Southwest    Mission 192 

Spring  Run,   Pa 191 

Spring  Run,   Pa. — Illustration.  ..  .190 
Snow  Hill   Nunnery 145 


Standing    Committee 189 

Statistical,    German    Baptist....  279 

Sunday   Morning   Service 244 

Tennessee   199 

Texas   County,  Mo 194 

i  Tulpehocken     152 

Tunker  Love-feast  249 

I  Tunker    Meeting-house    244 

Tunker    Meeting 239 

Tunker  Note 239 

I  Unbelievers,  Excuse  of in 

Variance    90 

Waldenses     27 

Walnut    Creek 192 

Western     Pennsylvania    210 

J  Wolf  Creek,  0 203 

j  Word,  External  and  Internal...    104 
'  Worship,    Outward no 


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